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tv   Capitol Hill Hearings  CSPAN  November 29, 2012 8:00pm-1:00am EST

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then offered him the position as minister to france, ambassador to france. >> michael hill on a minister to france during the 1870's franco prussian war and the only diplomat from a major power to stay during the siege of paris, providing political and humanitarian support. >> coming up tonight an c-span an update an the fiscal cliff. first we hear from speaker boehner. later senate democrats explain what they are looking for in negotiations with republicans. house speaker john boehner told reporters there has been no progress in two weeks of discussions on the fiscal cliff. his comments came on the same
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day guide ner made rounds on capitol hill. this is ten minutes. >> good morning, everyone. the president has warned us about the dangers of going over the fiscal cliff. but his actions have not matched his public statements. members of his own party seem quite comfortable with sending the economy over the fiscal cliff. on tuesday, we had productive conversation at the white house. despite the claims that the president supports a balanced approach, the democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts. secondly, no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the white house and the house over the last two weeks. this is not a game.
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jobs are on the line. the american economy is on the line. this is a moment for adult leadership. campaign-style rallies are not the way to get things done in washington. a discussion with the treasury secretary was frank and direct. we hope to see a specific plan for cutting spending. we sought to find out what the president is willing to do. i remain hopeful that productive conversations can be had in the days ahead. but the white house has to get serious. yesterday, the house leadership team met with erskine bowles and business leaders about averting the fiscal cliff and achieving an approach the white house says it wants. i made clear that we put real concessions on the line by putting revenues on the table right upfront. unfortunately, many democrats continue to rule out spending
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cuts that must be part of any significant agreement will reduce our deficit. mr. bowles himself said yesterday there has been no serious discussion so far. there is a real danger of going off the fiscal cliff. going off the fiscal cliff will hurt our economy. it will cost american jobs. republicans have taken action to avert the fiscal cliff by passing legislation to stop all the tax hikes, to replace the sequester, and pave the way for tax reform and entitlement reform. we are the only ones with a balanced plan to protect the economy, protect american jobs, and protect the middle class from the fiscal cliff. without spending cuts and entitlement reform, it will be impossible to address our country's debt crisis and get our economy going again and to create jobs. right now all eyes are on the white house.
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the country does not need a victory lap. it needs leadership. it is time for the president and congressional democrats to tell the american people what spending cuts they're willing to make. with that, i will take a few questions. [indiscernible] >> it has been very clear over the last year and a half. i have talked to the president about many of them. you can look at our budgets where we outlined specific proposals that we passed last year and the year before. we know what the menu is. we do not know what the white house is willing to do to get serious about solving our debt crisis. [indiscernible] >> i am not going to get into details, but it is very clear
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what kind of spending cuts need to occur, but we have no idea what the white house is willing to do. >> most public statements have been optimistic. we are sensing a different tone in you right now. are you walking right away from talks? >> no, no, no. ok, stop. i am disappointed in where we are and what has happened over the last couple of weeks. going over the fiscal cliff is serious business, and i am here seriously tried to resolve it. [indiscernible]
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>> i will let it into the details, but it is very clear what kind of spending cuts need to occur. but we do not know what the white house is willing to do. >> at this point, most public statements have been confident, optimistic, hopeful. we are sensing something different right now. are you contemplating walk away now? >> no, stop. i have to tell you. i am disappointed on where we are, in what has happened over the last couple weeks. going over the fiscal cliff is serious business. i am here seriously trying to resolve it and i would hope the white house would get serious as well. >> based on the meeting with secretary geithner or your phone call with president obama 09 -- obama side, can you tell us something about that phone call? >> we had a very nice conversation last night. it was direct and straightforward. but the assessment i give you today would be a product of both of those conversations. >> how much would you be open to the idea of discretionary spending cuts as far as a down payment to get to a long-range solution on entitlements?
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>> there are a lot of options on the table, including that one. >> you are acknowledging that there will. >> the day after the election, i came here and i made it clear that republicans would put revenue on the table as a way to begin to move the process to get this resolved. >> right, so my question is what message do you have for people who are in the negotiating position or believe that it is inevitable that you have to accept some compromise on taxes? >> revenue is on the table. but revenue was only on the table if there were serious spending cuts as part of this agreement. we have a debt crisis. we're spending too much. while we're willing to put revenue on the table, we have to recognize that it is the spending that is out of control. >> roughly what size spending cuts do you think it would take to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff? and you think that just the promise of spending cuts have to be included at this level and at this time? >> it is not productive for either side to lay out hard lines as for what size the spending cuts ought to be. there are a lot of options on how you can get there. but the second part of your question was? >> my question is do you think the promise of spending cuts has to be included in the deal that averts the fiscal
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cliff? >> there is a free-market we presented to the white house two weeks ago. the framework has been agreed to in terms of a down payment for the end of this year. that would include spending cuts and it would include revenue. setting up a process for entitlement reform next year and tax reform next year. but this is way out of bounds. and not a recognition by the part of the white house on the serious spending problem we have. >> facing the prospect of going over the fiscal cliff or extending the lower tax rate and at the upper one, which would you choose? >> i will do everything i can to avoid putting the american economy and the american people through the fiasco of going over the fiscal cliff.
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[indiscernible] >> as i told the president a couple of weeks ago, there are a lot of things i have wanted in my life, but almost all of them had a price tag attached to them. if we're going to talk about the debt limit in this, there will be some price tag associated with it. >> are you standing by the dollar-for-dollar on spending cuts? >> i continue to believe that any increase on the debt limit has to be accompanied with spending reductions that meet or exceed it. or exceed it. >> thursday house minority leader nancy pelosi democrats are prepared to vote for middle
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class tax cuts for 98% of americans. these remarks came after democratic leaders came -- met. >> this doesn't have to be a cliff hanger. the president has his pen poised to sign a middle income tax cut. it has passed the senate and house democrats are prepared to vote for it. we urge our republican colleagues in the house to bring middle income tax cut to the floor. their own members are saying let us give a christmas present to the american people. this tax cut, this reassurance and confidence we'll give them as consumers will give confidence to the markets as well. the president has been clear and we support him on holding firm to the 250 tax cuts, expiration of tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a
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year. that would be part of a big package that has big can cuts. we've already voted for over a trillion dollars in cuts. revenue is needed and job creation is essential to reduce the deficit. we believe if you want to reduce the deficit grow the economy. it's all together. that is attested by every bipartisan task force, commission, you name it that has come together. you can't get here from here in terms of deficit reduction and fiscal soundness without having revenues be on the table. i'd like to yield to the assistant leader for his comments. >> thank you. i think that this meeting was very very fruitful. it simply remind us once again
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of exactly why we are here. but i don't know -- but i would add to what the leader has said the time for posturing is over which we are in the holiday season when people will love to turn to their families with some certainty and i think we ought to give them that. and it's very easy to do. the president has laid out a plan that has been fully vetted for months. that plan received a majority vote by better than 3 million voters. we also as democrats ran with the president thon plan of -- on this plan of his and we received almost a million more votes than our republican friends did in this election. we think the time for posturing
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is over and get serious about doing what is necessary for the american people to have their faith and confidence maintained in this process. and with that, i'd like to yield to our chair. >> i agree with what was just said by our leader and assistant leader and i would simply add that it is simple math. what we heard from the secretary added up. and it is a bold but balanced plan that could easily get the signature and votes of any number of our colleagues bipartisanly. so this should not be a cliff hanger. there is no reason why folks should be approaching christmas not knowing if congress will get its work done. we believe we can move forward and if our colleagues on the republican side aren't willing to move forward then at least let us vote in the house of representatives on what has
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passed in the senate and that is protection in the middle class. so they should not be held hostage this holiday season simply because our republican colleagues are not willing to accept the balanced plan by the president. >> thank you. i have just a couple of points to add to those of my colleagues. the president's plan is not a secret. the president has had his plan on the table for more than a year. it come bynes some very difficult cuts with additional revenues by asking higher income individuals to contribute a little more to reducing our deficit. the president talked about it during the campaign. as the assistant leader said, republicans have made some nice positive noises but they haven't put their plan on the
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table. so we're asking them what they've got there. the final point i want to make is i hope based on some of the comments our republican colleagues are making that they're not fairful of engaging the american public in this conversation. the president is talking to congressional leaders but he wants to have a conversation with the american people as well because what is at stake here affects their future and lives. it's curious to hear some of our republican colleagues complain that the president is reaching out to the people and engaging them in this conversation. with that i'd like to introduce the member of the weighs and means committee. >> i think we all agree it was a productive discussion and i can sum it up very briefly. the president went out and ran on a clear message, pass the middle income tax cut, address
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the other immediate needs, physician reimbursement the alternative minimum tax. that's the first order of business. we need to address the longer term. let us do the short term and avoid the cliff. this country should not go over the cliff and everybody in this congress has a responsibility to makeshire that doesn't happen. i think you can atest the clarity of the president's message. >> this was a good meeting t. president and the administration are working diligently 24/78 to come to an agreement. we have to have people to compromise with. and number two, you have to have something to compromise
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over which and our republican friends have been unwilling to compromise up to now and don't stand by and ask us to advance issues without making their own contribution to this solution. this solution is not that difficult to arrive at. one of the reasons people are frustrated and showed their frustration in recent elections with house republicans is they see washington and they see folks agreing on everything but nothing gets done. in this case, we know how to get this done. everybody grease we ought to pass the middle class tax cuts. we can do that tomorrow. we all agree we should pass the middle class tax cuts. we can do that tomorrow. we want to do it and they want to do it. all it will take is for them to say let's do this. people are talking about the fiscal cliff on january 16789 businesses have to start making decisions now projecting the environment they will be in on
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january 1. let's give those businesses the service, what they deserve and their employees bypassing this middle class income tax cut now. >> i'd just like to add that the chairman and assistant leader part pants in any number of these budget discussions, that, that or the other one. there were several of them. when they went to that table as representatives of the house democrats, they had no instruction except to reach agreement. they shared the values of our caucus but the over riding value was we had to get the job done for the american people. the only thing i said i wanted to see was jobs and economic growth would be at the centerpiece of the discussions and then whatever decisions we
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would make about investments or cutting them revenue or raising them would center around how we create jobs. that is the way we are going to reduce the deficit by creating jobs. and every step of the way, every time we came to the idea of big, bold, balanced, the revenue question was the hurdle and it still s. you just can't get there from here in terms of deficit reduction. you cannot cut your way there. you can grow your way there but you have to have the revenue as part of the confidence building that we are fiscally responsible, that we're going to reduce the deficit and that we can get the job done. why am icon fy dent? because it's the right thing to do. the american people expect and
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deserve this to happen. it's only a decision. it's only a decision to make tough choices, they are tough choices for us. this isn't easy, but it's necessary. and i have confidence that my republican colleagues will see the light and at least pass the middle income tax cut so we have that level of confidence and we can go from there. >> considering how speaker boehner has rejected the idea of extending tax cuts for those making more than $2 oh 50,000. are discussions stalled at this point unless you pass that? >> we want the whole package but the easiest thing to do to send a message to the public that the middle income tax cuts will continue is to pass the bill, to pass the bill. this is stage one. we would like to see a multitrillion dollar package at
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stage one. we've passed over a trillion dollars and there are other suggest suggestions in the president's budget. we want the growth. we want a growth piece, infrastructure, something for the growth piece. that is step one. in terms of what we do in addressing strengthening, entitlements, making further cuts, that we can do in the next congress and soon. but this is a big down payment that we are suggesting and it opens the road to much more. >> i hope when you ask that question you'll ask it of the republicans in this way is that how they negotiate by taking things off the table? >> things that have bipartisan support that have passed one
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part of the chamber the senate, they passed it. it's sitting here in the house and it protect it is middle class today by preserving the middle class tax cuts for them. if the speaker gets to just say no, then you've set up a negotiation platform where everyone gets to say no and protect their special interest and we get nowhere. you have to have everything on the table. the president and democrats have put everything on the table. you have to be smart and sensible but we're willing to be balanced and fair. whether anyone, a republican or democrat to have a condition that is just a no on something that passed in a bipartisan way in the senate, that makes it difficult to pass a bipartisan deal. [inaudible] >> i see the light might be the
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better term. but i do think that there are a number of people in the caucus who are coming forth and saying they need -- just to get back to what mr. decreal said, -- decreal it's hard to negotiate for the wealthiest people in the country and they will hold middle income tax cuts hostage to that. that's not negotiation, that's hostage taking. i don't think that's where the buck of their caucus is or the majority of the republicans in the country are. but it's important for the president to have this communication with the american people so that they snand what the choices are here. as was the case with the payroll tax holiday where the
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president wanted it, the senate voted for it and the house democrats were prepared to vote for it and republicans held the line, held the line, held the line, merry christmas, payroll tax holiday. >> i think we're confident we're going to find a way to prevent us from going over the fiscal cliff because the american people want to take a balanced approach. imagine this scenario, speaker boehner sticks to his position. we arrive at january 1, and then we got january 2 and january 3 and speaker boehner is splabing to the american people that the reason taxes went up on 98% of the people in fact why no one got relief on the first $250,000 of income was because he and his caucus were holding out on a tax break
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for the highest earners. when you think about how he's going to explain to the american people why he is preventing the country from moving forward and getting tax relief because he's holding out for the very highest income earners in the country, i think his members are beginning to look into the future. and that is exactly why people like tom cole are saying that's an unsustainable position. it just doesn't make common sense to the american people and it doesn't make common sense to tom cole and others like him. and he's able to read the tea leaves, look forward and recognize that's just an unsustainable position. >> could i just quickly add i think everybody should go back to the cbo report that the
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economic consequences of the cliff, the first critical step is to extend the mid cal class tax cut. it's almost half of the impact on our g.d.p. the upper income is onen tenth of one% in terms of economic impact. 1/10 of 1%. it's a question of listening to the american people. >> i would like to close by saying a lot has been said about what will happen if we go over the cliff. let's think about what will happen if we don't and the confidence that the market cease and the confidence that consumers will have further creating jobs. the confidence that they have that we can get a job done
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here, that's really important. but it's about job creation and growth that is so important. a job is the best answer to most every challenge that a family has. it is also a great way to relieve the federal budget of some of the social services that are necessary. and more important than that, it's the dignity of work and rewarding it and the fairness that the tax code that this is taking us to the clinton tax rates. others can speak to what it was under reagan and the rest of that. but the clinton tax rates which enabled the private sector to create more than 28 million jobs, enabled a great economic success to thrive in our country. so i think it comes down to the question that was mentioned, we
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say to the speaker of the house, the senate has passed a bill to extend the middle income tax cuts, the democrats stand ready to support it, the president stand ready to sign it. why? why are you holding this up? >> thank you. [indiscernible] >> friday on washington journal congressional his torn norman ordinary reason steen explains the changes that senate leader harry reid is pursuing. and stephen sloan will talk about the fiscal cliff. washington journal is live starting at 7:00 eastern on
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c-span. >> president obama travels to pennsylvania friday to talk about his plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. we'll be live from the manufacturing company at noon eastern an c-span2 3. >> worked his way up, went to harvard law school and then immigrated out west to illinois where the lead mine industry was in its hey day. he arrived after about a month's journey by shi ship, by stagecoach, by train and arrived on this steam boat in this muddy mining town boarded himself in a log cabin, established a law practice in a
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log cabin and worked his way up and became a successful lawyer. and got involved politically and ran for congress eight terms. and then befriended abraham lincoln from illinois. and then grant. and as they were on the rice, wash burn stayed with them as a close colleague during the civil war. and after grant was elected president he initially appointed him secretary of state. and at that time he became very ill. so after about ten days, he submitted his resignation to president grant and so he accepted his resignation. so over the next several months he refained his health which was always very fradge jill. so grant then offered him the
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position as interior -- ambassador to france. >> providing political and humanitarian support. sunday night at 8:00 on c-span. >> senate majority leader harry reid and other democratic senate leaders brief reporters on a so called fiscal cliff compromise. they have until the end of december to avoid the fiscal cliff. this is 20 minutes. >> i had a nice meeting with secretary gitener this morning. i always enjoy meeting with him. democrats are all on the same page. we're ready to protect middle class families by freezing the
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tax rates for the first $250,000 and letting the rates go up to the same lefrl they were during the clinton administration. republicans know where we stand. we've said it so many times. it's been weeks, at least two weeks since we met at the white house and we're waiting for a serious offer from the republicans. really now is the time for the republicans to move past this happy talk about revenues, ill defined of course and put specifics on the table. the president has made his proposal. we need a proposal from them. i'm glad to see there are some reasonable republicans breaking from the pack. veteran repetitive cole and new member scott from south carolina have said basically the same thing, and that is they should bring to the floor
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of the house the bill that passed here, it would passover whemingly as scott said in the press today. our bill would pass in a matter of minutes if the house republicans would simply allow a vote. we're not going to kick the can down the road. we're going to finalize this this year. this is no time for delay. the american people want us to avoid the fiscal cliff with a balanced approach and they want us to do it right now. the average middle class family is stairing at a tax increase of $2200 come january 1. we're simply not going to let that happen. if it happens, it will be under the leadership of the speaker representative john boehner. we'll protect the middle class and there will be pain on both side, we know that. but to forge an agreement, we
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need to republicans to come forward with something. it's time to listen to the american people and that is a valid statement. the vast majority of independents support what the president sent to the republicans in the house. the vast majority of democrats support it. more than 40% of the republicans support this proposal. the republicans need to show us they can help lead this country. >> thanks. we can debate whether the november 6 election was a mandate but i don't think we can debate the basics that it was a work order from the american people to members of congress and to the president to work together and solve the problems. we got the message. did speaker boehner get the message? what we hear from him is all of his pain and frustration dealing with the tea party in his own caucus which he needs
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to look beyond his caucus to the house and to the nation. and he has a responsibility to call this measure that will protect 98% of americans for a vote in the house of representatives. hexd do it this afternoon. he could do it before we break for yist mass. he could decouple and say those who are fortunate enough to have been successful are going to pay a little more. but the middle class will be protected. that's what the president is squg for and we are asking for. will john boehner acknowledge one thing that the house need to be bipartisan as well? >> the voters told us do this together. there is much more pain across america. because if speaker boehner fails to pass this measure passed by the senate, let me tell you where the pain is going to be, the loss of
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consumer confidence and more unemployment and the stock market going down. at a time when looking for recovery speaker boehner need to listen to what the people said on november 6. let's follow this work order and do it before we leave. >> based on the update leader reid has provided us, i think all of us are confident we can reach a bipartisan agreement by christmas time. we don't expect the republicans to be cheerleading about a deal that includes higher rates on the wealthiest americans. they are not going to concede this far out from the deadline but they see the handwriting on the wall. yesterday we all met with business leaders who are part of the fix the debt coalition. we urged the c.e.o.s to help us
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convince the republicans for highers revenues and higher hev news in rates on the wealthiest. they said they would as long as it was part of a comprehensive deal wnd we agree. i think tom cole said what a lot of republicans are privately assuming is going to happen on taxes. and it's a tell tell week when two members, two bone fide card carrying members of the hard right, said it wouldn't be a violation of the republican tax pledge to extend a subset of the bush tax cuts. they are trying to figure out their rational now that they realize in their heads they are going to have to agree with our position. it was also encouraging to hear similar talk from former
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president bush's secretary and leader cantor. they said if if they seattle on the president's offer on taxes that would be a victory for conservatives. we add it would be a victory to everybody. that shound sounded like an attempt to provide a soft landing. we are happy with any rational that helps republicans accept a coupling of the bush tax cuts. so speaker boehner this morning said there is no progress but all you have to do is just listen to what is out there and there is progress. just as in 2010 we had to realize that election said make cuts which we didn't like it but we did. the election said raise the top rates on the highest income people and our democracy still
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works well enough that they are going to have no choice but to go along with. that so it's clear where things stand now. at the president's meeting with the bipartisan leadership on november 16 all sides agreed on a framework that included a down payment that is needed to reassure the markets. we refuse to kick everything into 2013 as some republicans including mitt romney proposed. for the tax portion of this down payment, the decoupling of the bush tax cuts is the right way to bring in up front revenues. if they wish to have a spending cut component, fine, the ball is in their court. what sit? >> we've been specific about our down payment. what is theirs? >> if they have one on the revenue side, we'd like to see the specifics. we've been very specific.
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so far they haven't offered a single idea short of vouchering medicare that we all know is off the table. even mitt romney denied that one as the campaign went on. if republicans insist on spending cuts the on news is on them to come forward with some ideas t. president's budget continues over $300 billion in health savings. if they don't like that they should make a counter offer. we know that won't happen. we are waiting for some specific somewhere from our republican colleagues to show that they are serious on negotiations. >> three weeks ago the american people went to the polling places and they sent a message. democrats from president obama to our senate candidates on
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down built their campaigns around the idea that budgets have to work for our middle class and that the wealthy need to pay their fair share. republicans were clear too their to protect the wealthny and it was rejected. the american people voted for the candidates who committed to fighting for the middle class and in exit polls they agree that the wealthy have to participate and pay their fair share. here we are at the end of the year and it's encouraging to hear some of the republicans soften on taxes on the rich. before the election republicans proudly fought to protect the rich from paying a penny more in taxes. grover nor quist ruled the day. but that election is over and
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we are hearing republicans renounce that once sacred pledge. we are hearing them talk about putting revenue on the table and about compromise which and we heard from one conservative republican that the house pass the bill to extend the tax cuts to 98% of the workers and 97% of the small business owners and then have a debate about tax cuts for the rich after the middle class gets the certainty that it decenches. so republican rhetoric has moved in the right directions and we're looking for actions to follow. they should listen to representative cole and pass the middle tax cut bill. that would allow us to remove a significant chunk of the fiscal cliff for the middle class, let families go into the holiday knowing their taxes won't go up. and i am confident once we pass those cuts both side agree
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should happen, allow the wealthy to pay a bit more then democrats are clear we are willing to make the tough compromises a bipartisan deal requires. but the wealthy have to pay their fair share and democrats will not allow it to be born on the backs of seniors and our middle class. thank you. >> [indiscernible] do you believe that some kind of entitlement changes could approximate or should be part of the down payment? >> we are not going to negotiate with us. we have made a proposal through
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the president of the united states. that proposal said we should revert back to the same tax plan we had when clinton was president. protect those making less than $250,000 a year. we had rounds of talks. they talked about all kind of things including entitlements. we had the talks with biden. we had two round of talks with boehner and the president. we had boles simpson. we're not going to get into that. we have made our proposal. let them come forward with something. the issue is pretty simple as was shown during all the presidential depate's and during all the conversation during the come tain -- campaign. you can't get from here to there unless you raise the
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rates. >> do you support the president's plan to lower the corporate tax rate to 20%? >> i'm not trying to be rude to to you but i just answered that question. we have made our proposal. the president made a proposal to the republicans to raise the top rates and we're not going to negotiate here with everybody else. >> [indiscernible] >> how big does the town payment have to be? >> we know racing those top rates is about a trillion dollars and we can go from there. that's where we are. that's the proposal the president made. the rest is up to the republicans. >> do you -- fit came to you do you have the votes to pass a clean debt limit in the senate?
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>> most f you have written about it. at the meeting we had in the white house a couple of weeks ago with four leaders and the president which he said there will be an agreement on the debt ceiling or there will be no agreement. we are all experience, everyone in the white house is experienced, why would we agree to something for a month or two and have them come back and try to shut down the government like they have in the past. so that's part of the program. >> your position right now if i have it right is that you senate democrats would prefer a stand alone bill raising the top rate dorks i have that right? >> no, there is no stand alone bill. if we do nothing, the rates go up. >> as a matter of settling the fiscal cliff are you saying you
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do just a rise on the top rates now? >> we are saying extend the tax cuts for middle class. as part of that, of course, we know if we do nothing top rates go up. and we are waiting for the republicans to come forward with something because that's our proposal period. >> at the negotiations it was each side come down with your down payment. we've come down with ours. we're waiting for theirs. >> it's about three weeks we've been waiting. >> sbhite what you have all said today, speaker boehner made clear he thinks the ball is in your court and the president's court. he says democrats haven't depoten serious about spending cuts. where is the disconnect? >> i don't understand his brain so you should ask him.
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>> [indiscernible] >> i think that sends a great message to the american people. these two men were involved in a very bitter election to be president of the united states. i think it speaks well of both of them to sit down and have lunch together after the election after he won. i think this is great. none of us here have any ill will toward mitt romney. we were involved in a campaign. it's over with. i am very happy to see this picture. it's good for the american people. >> is there a bipartisan amendment that would [indiscernible] do you support something like that? >> i don't know what that amendment is. i know i worked hard on the iran sanctions. i'm glad we did that. it's biting iranians and iraq
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because their monetary system is about to collapse. there are a number of people that want to offer mims on the defense bill so i can't respond that specific. this will be the last question. >> it looks like as we have people talking, republicans perhaps more so at the moment, talking about spending cuts, that there is going to have to be additional spending outside the budget framework for the response to the hurricane. where do things stand on that and do you think we will be able to deal with that soon? >> the answer is yes. we are looking for a supplemental from the president friday, monday or tuesday. we have governor christy who has come forward with $37
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billion he feels is needed at this stage. the new york folks came back with 42 billion. whatever we do here will not be the last supplemental. really i met with mayor brookburg. it's hard for me being from a sparsely populated state to talk about hundreds of thousands of people who don't have a place to live. so this is something i think is important that we do as soon as we can. we want to make sure the numbers are basically in the ball park. i've been told that the republicans in the house agree that this is something that need not be paid for and i hope that is in fact the case. if there were an act of god, an emergency, this is it. >> i want to say something on. that last night senators spent
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about an hour in my office and we are lage out specifically to the administration what we need in terms of number but also in terms of flexibility. we have 300,000 badly damaged houses. the maximum that fema gives won't rebuild those houses for people who don't have insurance. so we need flexibility which we can't propose anymore under the earmark rules. our meetings have gone well and as the leader said we expect a supplemental with full administration support monday or tuesday. >> on c-span tonight vice president biden visits the opening of the opening of costco in the nation's capital
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and then secretary hilly clinton. and then the cost of treating autism. >> at the end of world war ii, we had 128 million men under arms. we had 2 tchourks flag officers and generals. today we have 100 flag officers and generals and 1.2 million under armed. the ratio is totally out of whack. we almost have an add my ral for every ship in the navy. so what we've done is go through and look at areas where we could not necessarily save all the money but we could transfer response blingt that is are not the defense of the country out of the pentagon and consolidate programs and save a significant amount of money.
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>> this weekend you can talk with oklahoma senator about the fiscal cliff and the future of the republican party. the senator has written several books and reports including his latest the debt bomb. join our conversation live sunday at noon eastern an c-span2. >> vice president biden shop t at the opening of the first costco warehouse in the nation's capitol. he also made remarks about the fiscal cliff and middle class tax cuts.
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>> i went to get my wife's card and she said no, you get your own.
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[inaudible conversation] >> i know what i am looking for.
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[inaudible conversation] >> vice-president, what are you shopping for? >> my wife is starting a thing called book buddies for women's shelters and daycare centers. i am buying a bunch of books for the book buddies back in delaware. >> how are you choosing your books? >> based on some things i know my grand kids like. will i come to that side?
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i'm going to come around that way. in this store.s in this storfos take 2200 books out of their income next year. [inauible conversation]
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>> how are you? >> i'm fine. thank you. [inaudible conversation] hey, do you have your phone?
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getting some guidance. not yet. irt got my wife's gift. gift.ady got my wife's could you open the case?
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>> come around, please. >> did you carry that? >> not currently. >> the other one -- [inaudible conversation]
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come over here. >> good to see you. how are you? now you know why my wife does not let you shop. all the people you meet today -- these are hard-working folks who do not need to see their taxes go up. the truth of the matter is, it is going to make a big difference. costco hired 260 employees in their new store, part of the renaissance of the whole neighborhood. the ability of consumers to have money in their pocket to be able to go out and support their families and the christmas gifts they want to buy -- i met with
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some small business people. they said, we are in the red nine months a year and we count on three months a year to put us in to the black. i think it is important that congress acts now. right now. all it takes is a single vote to expand the middle-class tax cut. if we do not do that and we go over this so-called fiscal cliff, the fact is it has been estimated that $200 billion less will be spent next year, as well as people having taxes go up at least $2,300 a year. it will have an impact on the economy. i hope -- we have a lot we have to settle, but there is one thing we should all agree on. the middle-class tax cut should be made permanent. it has already passed the senate. it takes a single vote. we are fully prepared to work with our republican colleagues to make sure we deal with the rest of the fiscal cliff, but
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that would take $900 billion off of it right now. so folks, just look around here -- people are, consumer confidence is growing. the last thing we need to do is- that now by -- dash that by now by not extending middle-class tax cuts. thanks for shopping with me. i know you not tell anyone what i bought. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama hosted former governor mitt romney for lunch on thursday. the white house -- they released this photo of their first meeting since the end of the election. governor romney is said to have congratulated the president and the two had a discussion that lasted more than an hour. >> friday on "washington journal," a congressional historian gives a history of the
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filibuster rule in the senate and explains the changes the senate leader harry reid is pursuing. at 8:00, a guest from political examines key tax credits aimed at families and businesses that would be impacted if congress does not act in the so-called fiscal cliff. "washington journal is live starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> the program began under a man who was one of the advisers to president franklin roosevelt. to document the conditions under which people were living. this was back when you did not have television. we had radio, but a lot of places did not have electricity so they could not listen to the broadcast to find out what was happening in other parts of the country. he was an economist from columbia university. the head of this project -- in
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1939, when kodak introduced color from, they introduced it to him to have his photographers try it out and see what they could do. kodak was trying to establish a new market and they wanted people who would know how to use it effectively to try it out and publicize it. >> america of the 1930's and 1940's comes to life through the eye of the camera as a library of congress curator shares some of the 1600 color photographs taken during the depression and world war ii. sunday at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. eastern this weekend on c- span 3. >> secretary of state hillary clinton spoke thursday about the future of u.s. foreign policy. the syrian civil war, and other challenges facing the middle east. this came at a forum hosted by "foreign-policy" magazine.
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she also answer questions. this is an hour. [applause] >> madam secretary, today we solve all your problems. nothing left to worry about, really. actually, the office of policy planning and the foreign policy group made a bet we could bring together leaders from inside government from leaders outside government to have a real discussion about the future of american foreign policy. is there to say based on the conversation we had today that that has paid off. that is especially thanks to say paanalysts and participants to mid really impressive than insightful interventions over the course of the day. i also want to give a special thank you to people at the foreign-policy group and policy planning office, who were the heart and soul of putting today together. if you've given a quick round of
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applause. -- you could give them a quick round of applause. [applause] we made a second bet that david could shine as "foreign policy" version of ellen degeneres. that also paid off. we started with jim steinberg reminding us today that we cannot predict the future, but there are three things, i think, it is fair to say over the course of today we learned we can do. the first is that we can define the kind of future rewards for our interest and the common good. the second, we can identify the transformational trends that will shape the future without worshiping those trends, because they can always be reversed. and we can construct policies that match those trends and tell the future in our favor. that is the spirit and purpose of today. there were a few answers, a lot
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more hard questions. both the people at the foreign policy group and we at the state department look forward to engage in with everybody here to grapple with those hard questions in the days to come and to try to translate them into real policies that affect real people in the real world. with that, i will turn it over to david to introduce the secretary. it is not just because i work for her that i can say we have saved the best for last night. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. my parents always hoped i would grow up to be like ellen degeneres. [applause] [laughter] it is an irony, and two occasions like this that the people who are almost invariably introduced require no introduction actually deserve the longest and production of all. i'm scared the responsibility of providing a detailed and --
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stared the responsibility of providing a detailed introduction of what secretary clinton has accomplished because we have spent the day here discussing it. we have talked today about transformational trends that four years ago would not have been on the radar of the united states government. we have talked about emerging powers rising up. we have talked about new voices emerging in society. we have talked about the transformation of defect of new technology, not just on business and on markets, but also on politics and on the relationship between countries. we have talked, in fact, about all of the things that have marked secretary -- set secretary clinton's tenure as secretary of state apart from her predecessors. given that washington is not a town where change is easy and inertia is one of the most powerful forces -- to have accomplished this much, to have
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opened as many minds, to have touched upon as many new topics she has is what makes it such a great pleasure for me to welcome today secretary of state clinton. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, david. i look forward to seeing your ellen degeneres imitation. i am pleased to be here. i want to thank all of you for your attention to this event and the topics that have been covered. before i begin, i want to say a few words about the unfortunate and counterproductive resolution the united nations general assembly that just passed. because it places further obstacles in the path to peace. we have been clear that only
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through direct negotiations between the parties can the palestinians and israelis achieve the peace they both deserve. two states for two peoples. they sovereign a viable independent palestine living side-by-side with a jewish and democratic israel. my longtime friend and colleague ehud barak is here. i knowed he would agree with that as both of the most decorated soldier in israeli history and as a distinguished public servants. i have more to say about this later, but i did want to begin by recognizing the challenge that this will surely present. i want to add my words of welcome to all of you.
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i want to thank bill for being here -- we reallyvery much appreciate your participation. foreign minister -- a good friend and colleague who is a top global thinker, well deserved because of the careful comprehensive views he has developed over many years of hard work about issues fundamental to freedom. of course, i see right before me a wonderful friend and colleague, former senator john warner, who has been a great example of public service, military and civilian, his entire life. and to all our friends and colleagues from the diplomatic corps, and thanks of course to david and susan and everyone at
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"foreign policy" for joining with the state department's office of policy planning to organize this conference about transformational trends. i want to thank dick sullivan and everyone at policy planning -- jake sullivan and everyone at policy planning. when he first came to work for me, i told my husband about this incredible rising star, a rhodes scholar, yale law school. he said, if he ever learns to play the saxophone, watch out. [laughter] now we travel all over the world and people say how excited they are to meet a potential future president of the united states -- of course, they mean jake. [laughter] i will state the obvious. we do live in a rapidly changing world. many of the constants that shaped american foreign policy for decades are shifting. that poses new challenges, but
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also new opportunities for our global leadership. let me offer a few examples. first, our alliances in europe and east asia are stronger than ever. after four years of repairing strains and answering questions about america's commitment to diplomacy, are staying power, our global leadership, we are working across the board on so many important issues to all of us. at the same time, however, many of our allies are struggling with serious economic challenges and a shrinking military capabilities. this will have implications for how we uphold the global order going forward. second, china's piece for rise as a global power is reaching a crossroad. its future course will be determined by how it manages new economic challenges, differences with its neighbors, and strains
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in its political and economic system. third, in the middle east, the arab revolutions have scrambled regional power dynamics, and the energy revolution around the world will likely further change the region's strategic landscape in the coming years. indeed, america's increasing energy independence will have far reaching implications, not only for our economic future but for our security relationships around the world. fourth, economics are increasingly shaping international affairs alongside more traditional forms of national power. emerging powers like india and brazil are gaining clout because of their size, of course, but more the size of their economies than of their military. more about the potential of their markets than their projection of what we used to think of as power.
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meanwhile, the global economic system, open, free, transparent, and fair, that fueled unprecedented growth is now under unprecedented pressure. trade imbalances, new forms of protectionism, the rise of state capitalism, and crippling public debt. finally, the traditional sources of america's global leadership are in need of renewal. a task for all of us. the cottage industry of cassandras and declinists have dramatically overstated this case, but it is true that the reservoirs of good will that we build up around the world during the 20th century will not and cannot last forever. new generations of young people do not remember gi's liberating their countries, or american development assistance changing
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the face of their economies were literally saving generations from hunger and disease. they are more connected and engaged with the wider world than their parents and grandparents could have ever imagines. but they face mounting social and economic challenges, and are not automatically pro-american. how should we, how should america lead in this changing world? as we look ahead to the next four years and the years beyond, what should top our agenda? one thing i have learned and you have been discussing all day is that the best laid plans are quickly turned on their head by the rush of events. certainly, the first job of our nation's policy-makers in the years ahead will be to get the big crises right, whether that is iran, north korea, or some unexpected threat. but we cannot allow the in box to overwhelm us.
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there also has to be room to think out of the box. we have to deal with the urgent, important, and the long- term all at once. i mention five significant ways in which the international landscape is shifting. let me offer five big-ticket agenda items that we absolutely have to get right as well. this starts with hollen through on what is often called our pi vot to the asia-pacific, the most dynamic region in our rapidly changing world. much of the attention has been america's increasing military engagement, but it is important we emphasize the other elements of our strategy. in a speech in singapore last week, i laid out america's expanding economic leadership in the region, from new trade agreements like the trans- pacific partnership to increase efforts on at the half of american businesses. the president prostitute burma and east asia -- visit to burmae
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pivot./ it i this is all based on advancing a rules based border that will drive peace and prosperity for decades to come. that is what we need to ratify the law of the seat treaty, something senator warner has been leading us on. over the next four years, the region will be watching to see whether america will make the diplomatic, military, an economic investments to lock in the strategy. that is exactly what we need to do. when we talk about the pivot, we have to be mindful that both ends of the equation. the end of the war in iraq the winding down of the war in afghanistan to create an opportunity to increase our engagement in asia, but this does not mean we are abandoning our traditional allies in other parts of the world or taking our
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eye off the ball when it comes to fighting terrorism and finishing the job in afghanistan. bin laden is dead and the core of al qaeda's leadership has been decimated, but the threats from its affiliates in places like yemen and north africa is still very real. in the years ahead, we need to accelerate an integrated counter-terrorism program that uses all our tools, civilian as well as military, multilateral as well as unilateral, to go after terrorists finances, recruitment, and safe havens. in effect, to marry up with the extraordinary work the admiral leads on behalf of our special forces. in afghanistan, as we transition for responsibility for security to the afghan government in 2014, we also need to focus on helping the afghans crackdown on
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corruption, move toward economic self-sufficiency, and elect their new leadership in 2014, advance a peace and reconciliation process, and pursue a regional framework, hopefully with pakistan as a constructive partner. in europe, we need to continue modernizing nato for the demands of today's global landscape, including unconventional threats like cyber warfare. we need to stand by the eu as it meets its economic challenge in the oreos zone. because as we move to seize the opportunity of the 21st century, including the asia-pacific, we need our traditional partners right by our side. i spoke about this earlier today at the brookings institution. let me just add this -- america is not pivoting from europe to asia, we are pivoting with
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europe to asia,. . we have deepened and intensify their dialogue and collaboration with europe on how to work together in the asia-pacific to our mutual benefit. the second item on the agenda is closely related to the first. we need to successfully manage our relationship with emerging powers like china and india. navigating the u.s.-china relationship is uniquely important, but also uniquely challenging. as i have said on many occasions, and as i have heard chinese leaders " my words back to me, we are trying to write a new answer to the old question of what happens when a established hour and a rising power meet. no one should have any illusions that this will be smooth or easy, but there is reason to hope that over the coming years we can in fact chart a path
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that avoids conflict and builds on the areas where our interests aligned. consider what happened last may. beijing for dowthan in the fourth round of the strategic dialogue with a jam packed agenda that included everything from the south china sea to intellectual property rights to north korea provocations. but the world paz attention was focused instead on the fate of a blind human rights dissident who had sought refuge in our american embassy. suddenly, an already delicate trip had become an outsized test of the u.s.-china relationship. this could have been, and many predicted it would become, a spark for a serious breach between two great powers unable to trustor understand each other. but this is not 1912. friction between the decline in britain and a rise in germany
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set the stage for a global conflict. it is 2012, and a confident america has encouraged china to take greater responsibility in regional and global institutions. we have built mechanisms like the strategic and economic dialogue that help manage disagreement and promote trust. in the end, the relationship we have worked so hard to build with china proved more durable and dynamic than many feared. both countries stayed focused on our shared agenda and engaged candidly on a wide range of critical issues. today, that dissident is safely studying in the united states. looking ahead, we have to build on this foundation. as i like to tell my chinese counterpart, 0 some thinking will only produce negative summers al-sum resukts.
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lts. is also applies to our relationship with moscow. we have made progress in nuclear arms reduction and sanctions on iran, and we continue to seek new issues or we can cooperate together. but the reality is we have serious and continuing differences with russia -- on syria, missile defense, nato enlargement, a human-rights, and other issues. so we have to take a smart and balanced approach going forward. we need to continue expanding our engagement with russia, but with very clear rise about where we draw our lines. we also have to engage with a set of the emerging democratic powers like brazil and mexico, india and indonesia, south africa and turkey, that are exercising greater influence in their region and on the world stage. the strategic fundamentals of
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these relationships, shared democratic values, common economic and security priorities, are pushing our interests and do closer convergence. this is reflected in the broad strategic dialogue we have launched with the emerging powers. the key going forward will be to encourage them to leave behind the outdated politics of the past and take up the responsibilities that come with global influence, including defending our shared democratic values beyond their borders. let me turn to the third element of our agenda, what i call economic statecraft. this will certainly help to shape our engagement in asia and our relations with emerging powers. united states is moving economics to the center of a foreign-policy. in response to the trends i mentioned earlier and you have been discussing. countries that are gaining influence more because of
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economic prowess than military power and market forces shaping the strategic landscape are clearly driving change. we can either watched it or shape it. last year, i laid out america's economics statecraft agenda in a series of speeches in washington, hong kong, san francisco, and new york. since then, we have updated our foreign policy priorities to take economics more into account, and that includes emphasizing the asia-pacific region and elevating economics in relations with other regions. in latin america, the destination for 40% of u.s. exports, we have ratified free- trade agreements with colombia and panama and are welcoming more of our neighbors, including canada and mexico, into the trans-pacific process. we think it is imperative that we continue to build an economic
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relationship that covers the entire hemisphere for the future. africa, which is home to seven of the world's 10 fastest- growing economy is, people are often surprised when i say that, but it is true. we are approaching africana as a continent of opportunity and a place for growth. not just a site of endless conflict and crisis. all over the world, we are turning to economic solutions for strategic challenges. for example, using new financial tools to squeeze iran's new nuclear program. stepping up commercial diplomacy, what i like to call jobs diplomacy, to boost u.s. exports, open new markets, level the playing field for our businesses. but we are building the diplomatic capacity to execute this agenda so that our diplomats are out there every single day promoting our
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economic agenda. our new focus on economics is also changing how we practice development around the world. consider this -- in the 1960's, official development assistance from countries like the united states represented 70% of the capital flows going into developing countries. since then, even though we have actually increased our development budget, because of surging private investment and trade that official development assistance represents just 13% of those capital flows. so we are refocusing our approach to development to better harness market forces and make public sector investments that capitalize sustainable private sector growth. the fourth agenda item is very much on our minds today. what does the future of the arab
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spring holdbacks for those who are experiencing it and the rest of us? one day we see the new government of egypt stepping up to mediate a cease-fire in gaza. the next it is raising concerns through new far-reaching constitutional decrease. we see territories slipping from the grip of the assad even as the opposition faces questions about it some coherence and the presence of extremists in its midst. libya has freely elected moderate leaders and has also come home to extremists and roving militias. iran continues to cling to its nuclear ambitions while its economy crumbles. just today, the palestinian authority, which has iseschewed the violent path of hamas and
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others, pursued a counterproductive path at the un. i will have more to say about that tomorrow night at the forum here in washington, but for today let me offer this one thought for u.s. strategy in the region going forward -- we cannot view any of these challenges in a vacuum. they are all connected. our strategy needs to account for the intersections and relationships. for example, you cannot understand what happens in gaza without tracking the path of the rockets from iran. or how the upheaval in syria and the rise of the muslim brotherhood in egypt have affected hamas. how the treaty between egypt and israel remains the bedrock for peace in the region despite all the change going on around it. how israel's concerns over iran's nuclear program shape its
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overall security posture. then there are the economics of border crossings and fishing rights and concerns about smuggling and arms proliferation. the list goes on. the united states really does need to bring an unprecedented level of strategic sophistication to these -- rather than just going and chasing after the crisis of the moment. american policy makers need to play chess, not checkers. some would have us wall off certain challenges -- that is just not realistic in today's world. that leads me to the fifth area -- a set of interconnected global challenges that defied both national borders and easy solutions. climate change -- poverty, hunger, disease, nuclear proliferation, human trafficing, women's rights, international terrorism, and more.
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no one nation can solve many of these problems alone. each one calls for a global network of partners -- government, businesses, international and regional organizations, academic institutions, civil society groups, even individuals, all working in concert. building those coalitions is one of the great task of american leadership. we rightly call america be indispensable nation because only the united states has the reach and resolve to rally disparate nations and peoples together to solve problems on a global scale. certainly in defense of our own interests, but also as a force for shared progress. our ability to connect is unparalleled. that, in the end, in the 21st century, is what leadership is about. diplomacy and development are not always glamorous.
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it is like what max weber said about politics -- the long, slow, drilling -- but it is the only way we'll be able to bring together the disparate and often conflicting interests to move forward in this interconnected world. here is one moment that captures this for me -- in december 2009, the international community gathered in copenhagen to try to negotiate a way for it on climate change. interests collided, talks stalled, tempers frayed, and i remember late one night being in a very small room in the convention center with a large number of leaders. but reemerged after 2:00 a.m. following a particularly frustrating session. everyone rushed to the door.
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the cars were trying to get everyoto everyone to take us tor hotels. we were standing there when nicolas sarkozy looked into the cold danish sky with exasperation and said, after this i want to die. [laughter] i think that is how we all thought to some extent -- and we kept at it. thanks in large measure to the i had indent obama and intervening in a meeting to which were not invited, we hammered out a deal which though far from perfect set out progress. starting in copenhagen and continuing in cancun, durbin, and this week in doha, we have pushed for a global agreement that will apply to all significant emitters, developed and developing alike. because there is no way to get
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ahead of this crisis unless we do that. are the past for many years, the obama administration has struck a deal with car companies to nearly double fuel efficiency by 2025. we have doubled production of clean energy, made historic investments and breakthrough technologies, launched a new international partnerships like the climate and clean air coalition to take aim at pollutants like carbon and methane that account for more than 30% of current global warming. that has grown from just six countries to more than 24 today. we are committed to continuing this hard, slow, boring work in order to take the practical effective steps necessary to tackle climate change. our focus is on results, not on today's's headlines, but on the trend line. we are after what works.
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we will continue to chase down every opportunity to move bit by bit, if that is what it takes. that is a model for a change happens today, from securing the rights of women to solving the issue of nuclear weapons. there is no substitute for that hard work, no replacement for diplomacy, and no alternative to american leadership. so certainly there is a lot to do in the years ahead to tackle this agenda. we will need to use all the tools in our arsenal. that means institutionalizing smart power, continuing to tap 21st century technology, from social network to clean cook stoves. building a network of partnerships with other governments to fight terrorism and work with the private sector to advance food security and financial literacy and so on. it also means doubling down on good old fashioned diplomacy.
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i have found it highly ironic that in today's world, when we can be anywhere virtually, more than ever people want us to show up actually. somebody said to me the other day -- i look at your travel schedule, why togo? why the cook islands? no secretary of state had ever been to togo before. togo happens to be on the u.n. security council. going there and making a personal investment has a real strategic purpose. the same goes for all the tiny pacific islands. look at the future of asia, look at the voting dynamics in key international institutions, you start to understand the value of paying attention to these places. let me add that in recent months we have been reminded once again -- by its very nature, american diplomacy must be
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practiced in dangerous places. the men and women who serve our country overseas represent the best traditions of a bald and generous nation. they are no stranger to danger, from tehran and beirut to east africa and saudi arabia, and now in benghazi and so many other places in between. we have seen diplomats and development experts devoted to peace who are targeted by terrorists devoted to death. that is why we are taking immediate steps to bolster security and readiness at our missions across the globe. we have already dispatched joint teams from the departments of state and defense to review high brett posts to determine if there are improvements we need in light of the of all and security challenges. as we mourn our friends like ambassador chris stevens, who was careless in his dedication
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to diplomacy, we refuse to be intimidated. our people cannot live in bunkers and do their jobs. so we will do what we always have done -- pulled together, learn the lessons we must, and improve. because america always emerges stronger and more confident when we do that. there should be no mistake -- this work does make a difference. that is why chris stevens was in benghazi to begin with. as we look ahead and consider the future of america's global leadership, let's remember what is really at stake here. america's unrivaled military might will always be essential, and we are so grateful for every man and woman who serves in a uniform of our armed services. our economic strength will be critical. that is why we have to make the tough choices right now to get our own economic house in order
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here at home. but america's global leadership goes deeper than that. it really is rooted in the values that we champion, and the ideals and aspirations we represent to the rest of the world. as my husband likes to say, america's influence flows more from the power of our example and on the example of our power. the example of our power. but we cannot afford to rest on the laurels of our past. it is our job to introduce a post-iraq generation of young people around the world to principled american leadership. that is why i have logged so many hours over the past year is going to 112 countries, holding town hall meetings with young people from tunis to tokyo, chinese spotlight on the concerns of religious and ethnic minorities from egypt to burma.
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putting down a clear marker on the internet freedom, going to the u.n. human rights council and standing up for the rights and lives of the lgbt people around the world. advancing a new approach to development that puts human dignity and self sufficiency at the heart of our efforts. and, pushing women's rights and opportunities to the top of the diplomatic agenda. mountains of evidence tell us that no nation can achieve the progress we all want and need it half the population never gets to participate. the economic evidence is overwhelming -- we cannot ignore the energy and talent women add to economies, and we now that when women are allowed and encouraged to brisbane, societies are more stable, less prone to conflict, and the export of terrorism. there's a lot for us to do. as we shape our own at global
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leadership and then use it to help shape the world that we want for our children. the united states should be at the head of a growing call of democratic nations, always expanding the frontiers of freedom and prosperity and progress. that is who we are as americans. it really is in our dna. that is what makes us such an exceptional country. so i thank all of you as a look around this room -- i see a lot of familiar faces of people who have been on the front lines of helping to define, examine, and practice american foreign policy and national security policy for many years. we need you to keep doing what you are doing, to keep thinking out of the box. in the years ahead, we will need all the wisdom and perspective that we can possibly gather, but
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i am absolutely confident that our nation has what it takes to continue leading the world, no matter what comes our way. with your help and the help of so many others are around our country and like-minded people around the world, america will remain the greatest force for peace and progress the world has ever known, and the world will understand and work with us to move toward the kind of future that we all deserve. thank you very much. [applause] >> secretary clinton has graciously offered to take a little time and answer a couple of questions. we have got 10 minutes, so i
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will have to forgo the ellen impersonation. that should be a relief to everyone. but i will use my prerogative here and offer the first question to my partner here, susan. we really only have about 10 minutes. >> we can stretch it a little bit. >> i was not going to waste this one and only question on the question everyone here wants to ask -- i and channeling them. you heard them talk about how 50% of the population has been denied the chance to participate. i thought for a moment you are going to tell us all whether it is finally time for a man to become secretary of state. [laughter] i did not want to waste my one question on that. you can tell us, of course. but i did want to grab from your in box, from the headlines as well as the trend lines, one of
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the stories we're all looking at today. to ask you to give us your assessment of whether you believe the events in syria are finally moving toward a tipping point and, regardless of that, there are reports the united states is considering some moves we have not yet taken in the course of this crisis, including possibly recognizing a new syrian opposition as the official representative and potentially considering even arms or something more significant to move forward. first of all, are those reports accurate? and can you give us your assessment about where things are in a civil war that is 18 months and counting? thank you very much. >> susan, i think that the short answer is that it appears as though the opposition in that syria is now capable of holding ground.
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they are better equipped and more able to bring the fight to the government forces. we follow closely where the government still maintains regime control and where it is contested and where the opposition is making significant inroads. i do not know if you can say that for the entire country is yet eddie tipping point. but it certainly seems that the regime would be much harder pressed in the next month. having said that, they still are receiving considerable assistance from iran, from hezbollah, and we follow what
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other countries are trying to do for them as well. to keep the regime operating. and for a long time the syrian opposition was not able to present anything resembling a unified coherent vision for what a future post-assad would look syria would look like. as you know, there was a lot of work done to help the syrians coming up with a new opposition. they are currently meeting in cairo as we speak. we have been deeply involved in helping to stand them up, and we are going to carefully consider what more we can do. i will be having much more to say about that as we move toward the friends of the syrian people meeting in morocco in the second week of december. no other decisions have been
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made yet, but we consider them on an almost daily basis. at the united states has provided more than $200 million in humanitarian assistance -- syrian people who weapon displaced are facing difficult conditions given the winter that is upon them. this remains a very difficult situation to manage because there are so many interests by all of the players, many of which are contradictory. turkey, for example, is very much at the leadership level, committed to seeing the end of the syrian regime, but incredibly worried that not enough will be done that empowers the kurds, particularly the pkk affiliates. jordan is working hard to
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maintain stability inside its own country. they are obviously worried about upsetting the delicate demographic balance inside. lebanon has tried very hard to stay out of it because of their own internal conflicts and the role that has bought plays and -- plays and the opportunity for extremists to take up safe havens in lebanon and go across the border. the golan heights has been threatened by syrian action. if this were a straightforward challenge, i think we would all have reached a conclusion and have unified behind exactly what we were going to do and how to do it. but in deed, it is and remains extremely complex.
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we are doing what we can to support the opposition, but also to try to support those inside syria, particularly in the local councils, who are committed to the kind of continuity and -- of syrian governmental institutions so we do not see a collapse of institutional forces that we know from our iraq experience can be extremely dangerous, and that they can present this united front more and more to the international community and most importantly to the people inside syria. we are constantly evaluating. we are constantly taking action. i am sure we will do more in the weeks ahead. >> very good. go over to hear first. >> thank you, madam secretary, for your comments. i'm a fellow for the center -- at the center for new american
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security in the asia-pacific security program. it is not surprising i will answer -- asked a question about china. i agree the revocation would give the united states more leverage, but china has a different interpretation, specifically civilian vessels that they find engage in activities a fine not to be peaceful what not be protected. this could be detrimental. my question is, i think there is the broader view that the chinese have that the u.s. presence is destabilizing. in your interactions with chinese leaders, what are you doing to convince them that is not the case? you feel you are being convincing? if not, what are the main obstacles? >> you might need a psychiatrist to answer that. we certainly have made it as clear as to possibly cut that the pacific is big enough for both of us, indeed, for all of us.
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the united states to starkly, -- historically, for more than 150 years, has been a pacific power just like we are in atlantic power. we have a lot of treaty alliance is in the region that we take seriously. we have trading partners and other commercial interests. we are there to stay. we are present now and into the future. and being present means that we have our own view is that we share with the chinese and other countries in the region about what it means to be a responsible stakeholder, as we hope china is with respect to all of these areas. -- that you are referencing. the efforts by the asean nations
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to work toward a code of conduct with china over the south china sea is certainly an effort we support. we are not involved in it. we are not doing it. it is something they are doing for themselves. but it is important but it is important because you cannot let anybody with tensions a potential conflict to be unanswered if you're going to try to maintain peace and security. so we have explained this to the chinese. their responses what we clemens hours. and our responses that is why we have processes -- what we claim ours.ur
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and our response is that that is why we have processes. we could see the same thing happening in the arctic, in the mediterranean. it is not just about the south china sea. certainly, the chinese will assert the broadest claim they possibly can. but if we want to a rules-based order that deals with everything from territorial disputes, intellectual property rights disputes, in order to maintain stability, peace, prosperity, that we have to stand up and speak out in support of these broad tenets. we have made abundantly clear that we do not claim any territory and we are not taking any sides on any territorial claims. this is partly one of these long processes that we keep working on. and i think that what happened
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at the east asia summit, where the cambodians tried to basically gavel a summit to an end and have a communique that made no reference to these issues and was interrupted by the philippines, singapore, vietnam and others was a good sign because those countries have every right to stand up for themselves and that is why we would like to see a code of conduct and a process to try to resolve these disputes. i think this is a work in progress. there is not any short cut to just continuing to raise it. at one. come in one of my long discussions about this, one of my chinese in a lot couture's said, we can claim hawaii. go ahead. we can go through arbitration and prove that we own it. that is what we want you to do.
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this is a learning process for everybody because, why are these now old territorial disputes coming to the forefront? because their resources and want to drill and find out what is there. they have material benefits for them. but they have to be done in a lawful way. that is why i advocated strong way for the law of the seas because it will make a strong case for these. >> i want to ask you about iran and to speak with the same kind of candor you did about syria. this morning, he said that he thought this year would be a decisive year. one of the u.s. representatives in vienna said that there is a march deadline. if you could discuss that further. and what prospect do think there is to compromise with iran given the past year of efforts by the united states. and also, if you believe that
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israel is fully on board in letting the united states take the lead and nine going off on its own path. >> as to the last question, i will not speak to any country's security decisions other than our own. obviously, that is up to israel to decide. however, i will say that we continue to believe that there is still a window of opportunity to reach some kind of resolution over iran's nuclear program. now i am not wild eyed optimistic about it, but it is imperative that we do everything we can, unilaterally, bilaterally, multilaterally to test that proposition. i think what was meant about the march reference was either about
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the iaea and its continuing work or the fact that we finished our election and now it would be a good time to test the proposition, that there can be some good faith in syria's negotiations. i think that it is a difficult matter to predict because it really depends upon how serious the iranians are about making a decision that removes the possibility of there being able to acquire a nuclear weapon or the components of one that can be in effect on a shelf somewhere and still serve as a basis for intimidation.
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we get differing reports, as i'm sure you have seen, as how the supreme leader is about that, but we want to test the proposition. this president came into office saying he was prepared to engage with iran, reach out to iran without much reciprocity. we put together this unprecedented coalition to impose these very tough sanctions on iran. we know they are having an effect internally. but i think we will see in the next few months whether there is a chance for any kind of serious negotiation. right now, i am not sure that it can happen, but i certainly hope it does. >> one more question. >> thank you. madam secretary, i am the
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ambassador of costa rica. i am sitting next to the ambassador of honduras and the ambassador of the dominican republic. my question to you is about the war on drugs and the violence it has inflicted. since we are all sort of agreeing that it needs to be reconfigured or is being reconfigured even as we speak, are you hopeful about eventually winning it? >> i think that one has to look at a couple of examples because certainly columbia it is a lot more secure and a lot safer than they were 10 years ago. i remember very well when then- president. -- then-president uribe could
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not be inaugurated because they were firing artillery rounds into the square where the inauguration was to be held. so i think that you can, with a comprehensive strategy, succeed in certainly pushing back the tide of violence and corruption that drug trafficking rings. i think mexico has made progress. there would be the first to say that he is a very difficult path, but they have succeeded in certainly diminishing the power of some of the main cartels. i thing central america with you and the ambassador of honduras know how it is to be squeezed between colombia and mexico without the resources that larger countries have to deal with the threats from the drug traffickers, which is one of the
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reasons we're trying to work with all of your countries in central america. certainly, the investor from the dominican republic knows how vulnerable the small caribbean nations are. they do not have adequate coast guard or any of the capacity that the texts themselves. we're trying to do more on that front. i think there are several problems that you have to address simultaneously. and certainly working to improve the institutions of government are good no matter what, but also very helpful in the fight against drug- trafficking and criminal cartels. you improve your policing. you improve your prosecution. you improve your judiciary. that is good for the country. but it is also a necessary part of the effort against this criminality. you have to have transparency as
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much as possible in government. there can be no impunity. so i think we have seen ways that work. but ultimately it is about providing greater opportunity, greater education, greater economics, the jobs and growth to a population so that they can have a real stake in their society and can be partners with their government. i assume part of your question is aimed at the whole legalization issue. i think this is an ongoing debate. we are formulating our own response to the votes of two of our states, as you know, and what that means for the federal system, the federal laws and law enforcement. i respect those in the region who believe strongly that that
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would end the problem. i am not convinced of that, just speaking personally. i think, when you have a ruthless and vicious people who have made money one way and are somehow blocked, they will figure out another way. they will do kidnapping. they will do extortion. there will suborn officials and takeover swaths of territory that they will govern and terrorize people in. so i don't think that is the answer. whether there is some movement that can be discussed, i think it will have to be a topic for the future for us. >> thank you very much. [applause] >> madam secretary, you've asked us to think outside the box. so i will take this out of the box. [laughter] we tried with the exhortation of jake and his team to do
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something that was a bit of a non-conference even conferences typically and with the words, i would like to present an award that is a little different than others. in one respect, there's no hyperbole in this award. awards are usually covered with phrases and overflowing with adjectives. this one simply says "for extraordinary contributions for diplomacy." i am something of a historian of national security and foreign politics and i have spent lots of time studying the foreign policy making of the u.s. for the past 75 years particularly. i don't think it is an exaggeration to say, as we look back on this period, it will be viewed as extraordinary. i think it will stand out as one of the best years of leadership in the state department that we have had. and i would add that, for those of you who are waiting this in your mind, it represents a big
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step forward in that regard. because the state department can focus on enfranchising the disenfranchised and get as much credit for it that in the past it would have gone for invading another country. that is progress for us. [laughter] i think that is why we consider this an extraordinary achievement. the other thing that is done here that is not hyperbole although it is extraordinary, it says that you have been one of our leading global thinkers in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. we do like the idea of your leaving office. but it would be nice to give somebody else a chance. [laughter] having said that, the other thing that makes this a were quite different from others is that, typically, when awards are given out, they are going away presents. we hope that is not the case with you. >> thank you. [applause] thank you very much.
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>> can you open the box? >> i can open the box and close the box. >> thank you very much. [laughter] thank you all. i get to see all of my friends up there that i do not get to see enough, but hopefully i will in the future. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, if you will just stay in the room here for a second. we have one more thing to say. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> on c-span tonight, a hearing on autism rates. and we hear from speaker john boehner after his meeting with treasury secretary tim geithner.
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the house democratic leaders respond to their meeting with the treasury secretary. that is followed by senate democrats and then we will hear from republicans about the negotiations. >> friday, congressional historian norm ornstein explains the changes that senator harry reid is pursuing. then examining the key tax credits aimed at families and businesses that will be impacted if congress does not move on the so-called fiscal cliff. president obama travels to pennsylvania friday to talk about his plan to avoid the so- called fiscal cliff. the event is part of the white house efforts to get public support for the president's proposal to and bush era tax cuts on incomes of two hundred
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$50,000 and above. -- of $250,000 and above. >> he worked his way up, went to harvard law school and then, at the urging of one of his brothers, immigrated out was to illinois to golena where the lead mining industry was in its heyday. he arrived after about a month journey by ship, by stagecoach, by train and arrived in a steamboat in this muddy mining town. he boarded himself in a log cabin, and established a law practice in a log cabin. and slowly worked his way up and became a very successful lawyer and then got involved politically, ran for congress for eight terms. and then befriended abraham lincoln, obviously from
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illinois, and then ulysses s. grant also from golena. as they were on the rise, washburn stayed with them as a very close confidant and colley during the civil war. after grant was elected president, he initially appointed washburn as secretary of state. at that time, washburn became very, very ill. his family feared for his life. after about 10 days, he submitted his resignation to president grant. so grant regretfully accepted his resignation so that, over the next several months, he regained his health, which was always very fragile. he regained his health and grant offered him the position as ambassador to france. >> michael hill on elihu washburn, ambassador to france and the only diplomat from a major power during -- from a
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major power to stay during the siege of paris. sunday night on c-span. >> on capitol hill thursday, representatives from the centers for disease control and the national institutes of health made a link between rising for autism rates and vaccination. they held a hearing on why the autism rates and its causes. this panel is two hours and 15 minutes. >> the committee on oversight and government reform will come to order.
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americans deserve an effective and efficient government that works for them. our duty is to protect these rights. our solemn obligation is to hold government accountable to taxpayers because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from their government. we worked tirelessly with citizen watchdogs to bring genuine reform to federal bureaucracy. this is our mission and i might say today, in many cases, we're dealing with people because of this affliction who may never pay taxes but in fact their families and others paid for an entire life. congress spends a lot of time discussing and debating issues and determining by our philosophical beliefs with the role of government should be. as we have seen in these debates surrounding tarp, stimulus, health care reform,
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these kinds of issues oftentimes come down to where you fall on an ideological spectrum. today is no such thing. we're having a hearing focused on something that spans the ideological left to the ideological right. we're drawing attention to something that has no political affiliation, no partisan allegiance, and sometimes and we believe today not nearly enough focus on something that does not shorten life, but dramatically or even slightly but usually more than slightly reduces the quality of life, both for the individual and for their families. i am a father. as far as i know, i am one of the fortunate ones. i am not the 188. but right now, if the numbers are accurate and if they continue to grow from one in 88 as affected, we in fact have an
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epidemic. it could be that some of the one in 150 at the start of the previous century was too low and in fact people were simply not diagnosed. a few people believe that come in fact, there are not factors in our society and our behavior in the air we breathe, the water we consume or others that are affecting how many people will be afflicted. we will hear from a distinguished panel first of people who do this for a living, trying to get to the causes, prevention, i will secure today, but at least the treatment, -- i will not say fewer today, but at least the treatment and something to mitigate their suffering. i know they are frustrated. congress, although we put nearly a quarter of a billion dollars a year directly into research, has not the dollars perhaps that can
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bring specific outcomes sooner. on our panel, in number of individuals will say that one of the problems is that we're looking on one side of the equation and not nearly enough on what to do for the victims. the fact is that they are all right. there is not enough money being placed on the various possible causes of autism. there's not enough steady. our government does not collect statistics as well as perhaps someday soon we will so that we can find out what the true number is, cross check every aspect of how that number came to be -- that number of human beings came to be afflicted. we have a lot to do. i will not claim that i have come here timely. this is the last few days of my first two years as chairman. and this is our first hearing.
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but i will promise you here today that we will stay involved in this issue. we will stay involved through task and through, if appropriate, additional hearings. i would also would say to our first distinguished panel said one of the prairies i have put forth today is that we work with you and help you with this process, that we be a conduit to the rest of congress on this important issue. in a few moments, i will be recognizing by unanimous consent in number of members who would not ordinarily be here at a hearing because they are involved in this issue but served on other committees. additionally, i want to apologize to all of those people who rightfully so would be well to be heard here today. i could have had a second panel of at least 20 witnesses, of organizations and affected individuals. we have the difficult job of
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selecting just six. and as the ranking member will undoubtedly agree, 6 is already a fairly large single panel. that is one of the reasons that i pledge you today that any organization or individual that, in the next seven days, provides to us as recorded by our rules in electronic format or, if you give it to us in paper we will try to scan it, we will include your statement and your information in the record. we will hold the record open so that the man you could not be heard live in testimony will in fact be at least in the record. i want to particularly recognize ryan hooker with focus autism, the american academy of children -- it is actually a long, long title. i am sorry. who in fact has been one of the people who has championed for
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today's hearing. and a number of others. i would also like to thank and we will be recognizing two members on each side -- the former chairman of the full committee who began the process of focusing on some aspects of this terrible disease. we do not know enough. our goal is to know more. today is of but a down payment on that. i want to thank the ranking member in putting together the hearing today and we will hear his opening statement pierre >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i do thank you for holding today's hearing. before i get started. i want to pay special note, as you have already done, to our friend who is leading, mr. burden. over my 17 years on this committee, this has been an
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issue that he has constantly put forth and constantly made sure that we tried to address it the best we could. so i would like to thank you for your vigilance. although you may be leaving the congress, as the chairman has said, we will continue to fight and i know you will, too. mr. chairman, we have learned much about autism spectrum disorders over the past decade. taxpayers-sponsored research have evaluated therapies with some symptoms. decisions now have a better understanding of the developmental kinds of symptoms that a line with earlier detection. investigators have come up with new methods and assisting children with autism. congress has held -- congress is also happy to help individuals
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with autism and families in significant ways. we passed the affordable care at, which includes the significant protections, where insurers may no longer impose a life term caps on coverage. new plans must include screening for autos and without additional parts to the plants. and young people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders may remain on their parents' health insurance plan until they are 26 years old. these are real and significant protection that will improve the lives of millions of american families. even with this progress, there is still more to learn and there is still more to do. while autism of fax all ratio -- autism affects all the ethnic
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and economic groups, delayed diagnoses cause minority children to be for the deaf -- for the behind in development in language and motor skills. we must be vigilant in early detection for all our children. as an early diagnosis can make the critical difference in the lifelong development of a child. we must also continue to invest federal research dollars in new and evolving therapies to improve the lives of those with autism spectrum disorders. in my district, we have the kennedy krieger institute, an internationally recognized institution dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with developmental disorders. these institutions improve the quality of life, education and continued development of those affected by what is a spectrum
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disorders and we must continue -- affected by autism spectrum disorders and we must continue to support them. there are many experts, individuals and groups who can help us in this effort. i want to take this moment to thank all of you for being here. as the chairman said, there are so many people interested in this issue, so many who wanted to speak. but i want to say to you what i said bob wright of autism speech earlier today. i think you for caring about somebody other than your children and ourselves. because what you're doing here today is raising this issue so that other children, other than those that may be in your own family, maybe your friends, will benefit in the future. you're touching the future and
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you're making it possible for those who are going through the optimism -- the hottest inspector disorders to have a better future. so -- the autism spectrin disorders to have a better future. so i urge you to stay the course. one thing i have learned in 17 years is that, in order for these causes to move forward, you have to keep banging the drum. and you must bang it louder and louder in presenting your case so that, after it is all over, as my mother would say, motion, commotion, emotion and no results. i want you to be successful in what you're doing. life is short. so we must try to use our energy so that we can get the best possible results. i am so glad the chairman said what he said about sticking with this, addressing it, and we
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encourage all of you to work with us as we move forward. mr. chairman, i think you. >> i thank the gentleman. now i recognize the former chairman of the full committee. >> let me start off by saying, contrary to what has been stated in the media over the years, i am not against vaccinations. i believe that vaccinations have a very important place in our society. they give us one of the best health regimens in the history of mankind. people live longer and have less diseased because we have vaccinations. what we have always opposed is putting toxic chemicals or medals in the vaccinations. the marisol contains mercury. when i was a boy, we used to have mercury in thermometers. and they said, if you break that
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thermometer and the mercury gets on your hands, as years went by, that was toxic. in indianapolis, we had a school where, in the chemical laboratory, in the health science room, they broke a vial that had some of it in it. they evacuated that school. the fire department came in with all kinds of equipment to make sure they were not exposed to it. women who are pregnant, they say don't eat fish that has mercury in it and they cautioned them, the that there is surgeonfish you can eat. there are all kinds of reasons not to be exposed to mercury. yet we continue to put it in vaccinations as a preservative. in 1929, they came up with for marisol. they tested it on 29 people who had meningitis. they all died of meningitis, but the the mercury in the
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vaccination was not a contributing factor. so since 1929, it has never been completely tested and they continue to use it in vaccinations. it was not so bad when wenchow got a vaccination or two or three. but now they -- when one child got a vaccination or two or three. but now they get 29. the brain tissues to not -- it stays in there and it causes severe problems. during my chairmanship, for six years, we had four years of hearings. we had people from all of the world, scientists from all over the world, doctors from every part of the united states who testified. and people from cdc and fda who testified that there is no evidence that it caused any neurological problems in people who are vaccinated. and then we kept on and we kept on and then we finally had
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people from fda and cdc who testified who said there is no conclusive evidence that the mercury in the vaccinations causes neurological disorders. no conclusive evidence. that word, conclusive, ought to stick in everybody's minds. what it means is that there is a possibility. and my question has always been and i am convinced that the mercury in vaccinations is a contributing factor in neurological diseases such as autism and alzheimer's. but that word, conclusive, there is no conclusive evidence, that creates a doubt. and my position has never been that, if there is any doubt that the mercury in vaccinations can cause a neurological problem, then get it out. you should not put mercury in any form in the human body,
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especially in children in vaccinations or in adults. when we get a vaccination for the flu, every year, we get a flu vaccination, we have thermerisol. they are injecting a certain amount of mercury in your body. and over time, i believe that it has an adverse affect on the neurological system. but let me just say that the thing we need to do is always err on the side of safety. if the pharmaceutical industry were to go to single-shot weyl's, that would eliminate the possibility -- single-shot vials, that would eliminate the possibility because it would not have any mercury in it. we passed the vaccine injury compensation act to compensate those people injured by vaccinations. it was something that people could work with to get that
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money. the pharmaceutical companies are putting money into that fund. but it is so hard for someone who has a damaged child or damaged an adult to get money out of that fund. it is unbelievable. we need to reevaluate the fund to make sure that people who were damaged by mercury in vaccinations have access to that they can at least have some compensation to help with the rest of their lives. these people will live 60-70 years and will be a burden not only on their families but on society itself. >> i now ask unanimous consent, mr. posey of florida, mr. burrows of georgia and mr. matheson of utah to be allowed to sit in and ask questions at the conclusion of the other seeded members. without objection, so ordered. it is now my pleasure to recognize the distinguished gentleman mr. davis. >> i thank you for calling this
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hearing. as one who has spent much of my adult life working as a professional in the areas of health planning, health research and delivery, i firmly believe that the federal government has an important role to help understand what is in spectrum disorders and -- understand autism spectrum disorders and to help those with its inner life span. i also want to commend the former chairman of this committee, my good friend dan burton, for using his position as chairman and beyond to focus on this particular issue and calls the committee and others to continuously take a hard look
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at it. i commend you for your efforts and certainly wish you well as you revert back to private life. i am very proud to represent a premier institution involved in the research and service provision of people with autism, specifically therapeutic schools and centers for autism research operated by the easter seals in my congressional district as a part of the illinois medical district, which is the largest medical district in the country. this one-of-a-kind facility is unique in the nation because it combines on a single campus educational, research, training, rudy intervention, is it early intervention, move to work transitions, and
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independent living capabilities. the continuum of services for persons with autism is impressive and it would help to advance the research-driven context for teaching, learning, and clinical and medical intervention related to autism. as an ardent advocate for persons with all types of disabilities, physical, mental, or developmental, i supported the provisions for protection in the affordable care act that protect families and individuals affected by autism spectrum disorder. i want to thank all of the witnesses for coming to join with us. mr. chairman, i think you for calling this hearing and i look forward to our discussion here this afternoon. i yield back pierre >> if the
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gentleman would yield his remaining -- i yield back. >> if the gentleman would yield his remaining time to the gentleman from ohio. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i remember well, as i am sure mr. burton does and as other members of this committee do, a time when a provision was snuck into a bill on a homeland security that essentially shielded from lawsuits the manufacturers of thermerisol. no one for the members who have been here in the last 10 years you were the provision came from. it came out of nowhere and it was buried in a conference report. i mention this because it is not as though we just discovered this matter. while i salute the chair for holding this discussion, my
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theory is that, while there are studies out there that implicate environmental factors, think about this for a minute. we know, as mr. burton laid out, the components of thermerisol, the stabilizer is mercury. we know that the mercury is more than a contaminant. is -- it can come in other than a liquid form. it can also be in held. women and to be talking about pharmaceutical manufacturers. -- we may not be talking about just pharmaceutical manufacturers. we could be talking about coal companies as well. we have 11 million others contributing millions of dollars to affect the outcome of
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elections. while i salute this chair for taking this time, because, at the bottom of this, you have special interest groups who would resist any deeper research on it because it will affect their bottom line. meanwhile, you have children all of the country turning up with autism. this is a new beginning. i salute the chair for making it. but this goes way beyond thermerisol and start thinking about cole. >> i now -- about coal. >> i will announce that, if any individuals would like to be in a little more comfortable situation, we do have an overflow room. if you will let our staff know, there will make sure that, if they gave up their seat here, they can go to the overflow room and be a little bit more comfortable for some of our guests. i now turn to our first panel.
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the distinguished doctor allan gutmacher is the director of the shriver institutes of health. i knew the name sake of your organization. and director colleen boil is of the center of birth defects and developmental disabilities at the cdc. pursuant to the requirements of this committee, will you please rise and take the oath? raise your right hand. do you both solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? thank you. please be seated. let the record indicate that both witnesses answered in the affirmative. you are important witnesses and we will not stop you if you go
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slightly over. but we do have a large panel and we ask that you bear in mind that all of your opening statement in any extraneous mature a maybe -- may be entered into the record. with that, you are recognized pierre >> i am also a pediatrician a -- you are recognized. >> i am also a pediatrician. we authorized the authorization act of 2011. we think the congress for its continuing support of research and other activities regarding what is a spectrum disorders. that support made possible -- regarding autism spectrum disorders. that's a board made possible support for families.
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the combination in degree of impairment very, from an array of conditions from what many will see as normal to significantly disabling. two decades ago, it was thought as rare. today, the cdc estimates show that it is a national health priority. the iadc plays a pivotal role in getting the government and the public and nonprofit organizations to address this. it includes individuals on the autism spectrum, parents and children of adults victims. we will come public comments at all committee meetings and invite public comments and hold town halls. it informs iacc recommendations.
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it is a committed group. while the law requires two meetings a year, they may need as many as 17 times a year. the law charged it with a strategic plan annually. we are drafting as always with autism committee influence an update to reflect the latest aspects in what is a research -- in autism research. over the past decade, research funding has grown substantially. investing $169 million in just the year 2011, three times more than 10 years ago. in 2009 and 2010, 120 two million dollars in an additional american recovery and investment act funds were also presented. as congress has emphasized, early diagnosis and and
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prevention is critical. these earliest changes ever recorded was six months and a number recent findings suggest that the factors causing it may operate very early in development. last year, researchers demonstrated that doctors often have a short questionnaire to screen inexpensive way in a child visit. another promising diagnostic tool is i gazed patterns specific to what is of -- is eye gaze patterns specific to autism. recent trials have validated early interventions and quality of life. recent behavioral interventions showed improved i q, language and social development in young children.
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and progress is also being manned intervention for adults. a recent study shows that, for the many adults who have impaired ability to recognize faces, a computerized training program improves facial recognition skills. many of the vances is a program that supports nine centers and networks across the country with two additional awards expected in 2013. the research covers a variety of lines, including nonverbal ase, an environmental risk factors in determining why it is five times more common among boys. we do not know the causes of asd, but we highlight the need to focus on both environment and genetics. we have established large networks to collect data and conduct powerful analyses.
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those networks explore possible causative factors in the environment before, during and after pregnancy. one of these networks published a study that suggests prenatal and early life exposure to car emissions is a factor. in 2012, congress appropriated over $47 million for autism and other developmental disorders. this supports 43 training programs through 41 states and projects for underserved populations. federal agencies also use public-private partnerships to maximize our, such as the nih national data office of research that has an autism depository.
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this brings together hundreds of researchers and clinicians with tens of thousands of people nationwide affected by asd. there is a call center, web based -- the nih supported the association in the early prevention of autism. in conclusion, since the establishment, wide expertise has come to bear on autism with research rapidly translating into individuals and the community. coordinated efforts to identify best practices to support the lifelong education, health and employment needs of the people in the spectrum.
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thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony on such an important topic. >> thank you, doctor. >> good afternoon >> thank you for the opportunity to be here today. i am an epidemiologist. cdc works to keep america safe from health risks of all kinds. our 2012 what is and budget is about $21 million. today, i -- our 2012 autism budget is about $21 million. today, i will explain how that is used. asd is a group of developmental disorders. while there is no known cure, research is yielding innovative screening close to detected in
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that early childhood and new behavioral therapies that can improve outcomes. cdc data indicate that more children are being identified then previous years. the toll is significant and has profound implications for the affected children and their families. cdc works steadfastly to alleviate this burden by tracking asd, promoting the early identification and addressing the unanswered questions we research. cdc supports asd surveillance and tracking in 12 states -- utah, colorado, arizona, missouri, wisconsin, north carolina, new jersey, maryland, south carolina, arkansas, alabama and georgia. the goal is to provide comparable population-based data. in much of this year, cdc
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released updated efforts based on the 2008 did it indicating that one in 88 children had been identified with an asd. this is > the one in 10 released in the 2006 -- that is greater than the 110 released in 2006. we know it is at least in part to improved diagnosis and increased recognition. the adam network provides more than just prevalence estimates. we know that asd remains most common in boys than in girls. we know that the largest increase of the kind is among hispanic and african-american children and children without intellectual disabilities. we know there is a privilege that varies widely from 1 in to
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ando 1 in -- from in 21 in 210 1 in 147. every day, our children need help and our data is helping to provide that. cdc works to increase early identification by offering free tools and assistance through our learning assigned act program. we provide tools to help professionals, health care providers and parent's with a focus on minority and physically disadvantaged populations. national goals in early screening, diagnosis and service and roman give communities and the federal government a
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benchmark to measure progress. we must first understand the risk factors. the cdc studies explore early development and it is the largest study of asd in the country and it involves sites in georgia, north carolina, massachusetts, iowa, california and pennsylvania. cdc works to find factors that put children at risk, including genetics, environmental, maternal health and behavioral factors with special emphasis on the interaction between environment and genetic factors. we are an active member in the coordinating committee and we provide that epidemiologic perspective. our activities are key components of that plan. asd is an important and immediate public health concern.
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more children than ever are being identified and families and communities are struggling with the financial burden. we know it is frustrating to have more questions than answers. and we share that frustration and are committed to improving our understanding of what is putting our children at risk. cdc will continue to document the burden of asd in states through our adam network, develop resources and help states improve early dedication throughout our learning science early first program. thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony and i would be happy to answer questions. >> thank you both. i will recognize myself first. i will ask the experts to
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forgive me for being very basic in a couple of questions. but i hope it sheds a balance on this hearing. as far as you know, is autism in history predate all vaccines? was their optimism before there were vaccines? autism before theres were vaccines? >> i would refer to my colleague but i would say definitely. >> autism was not describe until 1943. he first noticed 11 individuals with similar patterns of behavior is and he coined the term autism. >> but were those likely or documented lay -- i want you to
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say with certainty or with likelihood. i think it is important for all people who are dealing with this. >> i know that dr. connors view and others is that this possibly existed before. just no one had noticed the patterns. there are descriptions of individuals before the immunization era who would have what we would take today to be autism spectrum type disorder. there is heavy suspicion that it existed before vaccination. >> is it fair to say that today, the state of science is that atutims of various types have -- that autism of various types has several causes. >> absolutely. >> i am trying to be very basic and i apologize. but i think for all of us, as we
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go through this, it is important to build on something. so it is fair to say that autism, like cancer or other diseases, is often a group of afflictions. meaning that, although the characteristics are similar, there are multiple causes and likely multiple treatment and multiple forms of prevention. >> i think it is not only fair to say, but as simple as that question may be, the most important question in some ways to ask that help explain some of the challenge in trying to figure out what isn't and the direction to do it. the better we'll understand the biological bases of these different forms of optimism, it will make it difficult for us to hunt -- of autism, it will make it difficult to emphasize any of them. >> is it fair to say that we can rule nothing out in absolute
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terms from being a contributor? we heard the gentleman from ohio talking about mercury coming in air form. the former chairman talked about the possibility of vaccines having a direct relationship. is it fair to say that the multiple causes we suspect, the fact is that we can rule nothing out of including is that possible there will be more causes viewed and nothing can be ruled out? >> it's certain those things we haven't looked at we can't rule out. some things have been looked at heavily, it's a possibility for ockal individuals, i think grade yation of suspicion and there are some various kind of possible factors looked at so carefully we can rule them out as being involved in the vast majority of individuals.
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>> i'm going to ask one last question and i'm really feeling like this is so far above my head as i continue to study and work with people i'll learn more. one that wasn't mentioned in your opening statements but i believe is under suspicion is the age of parenting. would either of you feel comfortable talking in terms of we as a society are waiting late tore have children and snns science is coorting with us. does it need further study? >> it does need further study. paternal age does have some correlation with rate of autism. that is clear that is not a factor. there are many many older father's who have children who do not have any form of autism and younger father's who have
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quite frank autism. so in any given situation it's not the factor but in public health sense it does play a role. >> i apologize i didn't have any time to ask questions what to do with people once they are aflicted and quite frankly i don't think i've done justice to the fact there are interest groups that is fragmented into components. >> kind of following up on what the chairman just asked. in talking to the folks behind you, there seems to be a frustration. i wish you could see them behind you. they are shaking their heads, there is frustration with regard to coordination of
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efforts, with regard to research. and i guess what -- i hinted in my opening statement that i want us to try to move towards trying to make a difference. i know that's how the chairman feels too. we don't know how long we're going to be sitting on these panels and in the congress but we want to use our time effectively and efficiently and what can we do to help the folks behind you get to the coordination the kind of things they are looking for to have an impact because they are thuroughly fruss straited. can you help me with that? can you help us? >> we can share your frustration. all of us are fruss straited at the rate of progress and having interventions to make a
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difference. so we clearly share that frustration. perhaps because we are involved in it we have a different perspective on the frustration but we do share it. i think what the congress can do i think some of you have already done in terms of funding for this area but in terms of the role of the interagency autism coordinating committee and specifically the area you mentioned is coordination. i think the ia ccs has done a good job in coordinating both work among federal agencies but also coordinating the federal agencies and the advocacy organizations and individuals and others to try to come up with the community viewpoint about what the priorities be within research and in terms of service delivery invention, etc., so i think while there
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is always room for better coordination i think it is much better than it was a number of years ago and in fact, across other areas -- >> but you are saying we can do better. >> we can but we are doing better. i think this is one of the areas in science there is good coordination at this point in time. good enough, no. >> major efforts to confront significant health crisis have been mounted in the past, cancer and aids have been the focus of major effort which how do you think the federal effort to confront autism disorderers compares to those other federal efforts? >> certainly scientist cli they present their own challenges. one the chairman referred to in terms of the diversity of conditions we are lumping as
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one here. that presents its own challenge. it also presents some coordination challenges as well. i think it's hard to compare one sort of disease movement versus another. they need to all be crafted with acknowledgment of the particular qualities of the disease or diseases that you are trying to approach. >> yes. >> i was going to say that autism like breast cancer is a very complex issue and although it may not seem that, with federal dollars we've made considerable investment in research and programs and tracking. and we're just starting to see some of the benefit from that. we are starting to see some of the research come out. there really is an explosion of information, a lot more to be done, particularly on the environmental perspective. a lot more focus has been on
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gentlemen net tix and that's been a discussion at the ia ccs level. we need to move more into the non-genetic aspects. >> that is a tip in the sphere to address autism. is the commit's abilities to accomplish its mission hampered by private and non-profit sector and would the coordinating committee be better positioned outside nih since they are important part of the mission of the committee . >> the nullly committee is larger than it's predecessor. it has more membership. i think like any committee it struggles with wanting to be inclusive and at the same time
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making the committee effective in terms of size, etc. i think that the committee tries to make sure by the inclusion by inviting public comment and town hall meetings so even those not represented directly on the committee have a voice in the room. >> i would agree with that. >> i thank the gentleman. i now ask unanimous consent that the gentleman my ran be allowed to sit in this hearing? so ordered. >> i ask consent that mr. burton waived two minutes of his five minutes so he can show a video before he begins. so if the video can be shown and then he will have three minutes afterwards. >> thank you. i know there are many causes of
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autism but the one we are talking about today is the mercury until vaccinations and the environment. i want everybody in the room particularly my colleagues to see what the research shows. [video] in 1997 a team of research scientists found that there was a protein in brain me to be lism which was similar to
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all alzheimer's brains. studies now reveal with evidence how mercury yons develop the structure of developing neurons. to better understand the effect on the brain let us illustrate what brain neurons look like and how they grow. in this animation we see three brain neurons in a tissue culture. at the end of each one is a growth cone where structural proteins are assembled. ack on the which is responsible for the pulse sating motion seen here and tiblan. a structural component of the membrane. during normal cell growth tub lynn mod yules link together.
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shown here is the knew riot of the live neuron isolated from cell brain tissue. it is important to know that growth cones in all animal species ranging from snails to humans have identical structural and behavioral characters. in this experiment neurons also isolated from snail brain tishe were grown for several days after which low cons administrations of mercury were added to the medium for 20 minutes. it underwent rapid degeneration. in contrast other heavy metals added to this concentration did not produce this effect. to understand how mercury causes this degeneration let us
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return to our illustration. as mentioned before, tib lynn proteins linked together to form the mike tube bules which support the structure. when mercury y i don't knows are introduced they bind themselves to newly synthesized molecules. they attach themselves to the binding site reveteranned or gtp on the molecules. since bound gtp provides the energy for them to attach to one another, subsequently the mike tub bules disassemble leaving the knew riot stripped of its supporting structure. ultimately both the developing knew riot and the growth cone collapse and some deluted form
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tangles as depicted here. shown here as the knew riot growth cone stained for tub lynn and ack on the before and after mercury expose chure. note that the mercury has caused decent gration. these new findings reveal important evidence how mercury causes neurodegeneration. this provides the first direct evidence that low mercury expose you're is indeed a factor that can cause this degenerating process within the brain. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. there is an old saying one picture is worth a thousand words. i have read i don't know how many studies on this whole issue and i think i've had some of you doctors before when i was chairman and i have great respect for you and the fda.
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i think you do a great job but i think outside influences have too great an impact on the snntisk scientific research to find a solution to problems. we've gone to 1 in 88 children that are ought tist i can. it is an absolute disaster and how anybody could look at that study and see the actual brain cells deteriorating when put next to a small amount of mercury mist fice me. how can anybody at the cdc or ada watch that and say mercury does not have an impact on neurological problems. it may be from other things besides vaccinations but they should not under any circumstances be injected into any human being especially
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children. and children get as many as 30 or 30 shots before the first grade. my grandson got nine shots in one day. and it turned him into a situation banging his head against the wall and all kinds of things. i would pray to you, beg you to go back to fda and say come on, let's get wit. there may be other causes but let's get mercury out of all vaccinations which is a contributing factor. if you can go to single shot vials it won't hurt anything. and i don't mind if the pharmaceutical companies gets something bassed to protect them from lawsuits as long as they help the compensation fund and get mercury out of these vaccinations. i'm leaving. you won't have to watch me
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anymore. but please go back and work on it? thank you. [applause] >> we now recognize the gent laid from the district of columbia, mrs. norton. >> actually i would like to have heard the response. >> i apologize the gentle lady is right. i realize there was not an embedded question there but if either of you want to make a comment on the video. it will be a part of the record you can do it afterward but if you want to make a comment. >> since 2001, that has been removed from all vac scenes given to children with the exception of the -- >> we said that the record
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would remain open for all comments slug ones you may want to make as a result of this. >> with the exception of the multivile flu vaccine. >> the gentle lady may begin. >> thank you mr. chairman. i have a couple of questions that have to do with who we are talking about. it would probably be the case that many many of these children who may have some fee chures of autism were not recognized early and you indicated how difficult it is to backtrack and do something about it. so i ashume there are millions of people walking around or not . now where we do recognize what
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is seen as a disability, the idea says there must be services provided in school and the rest so a child might be able to get all manner of services, services relating to speech and to movement, very primary services. then this person graduates out of school where there is no, dea, what does -- so i have to assume there must be parents and relatives with such children who were not recognized and nothing was done. what are we doing about these young people or older who have not had any services? do they have anything like idea available to them or any services they automatically qualify for? if not, what do we do with them? >> i think that's a real
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challenge. this topic about understanding transition from childhood to adult and the services associated, the benefits, the impact of autism across a life span -- >> what do we do to the child who is 18 or 19, the mother and father have done all they could. this is an adult child. what does that young person do? >> i think congresswoman it's a real challenge for our society. and as you know your historic interest for the down syndrome caucus many of the issues you bring are extremely similar if not identical for children who become adults with any kind of disability. >> except we can recognize down syndrome. >> yes. >> what are we doing with these
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young people, doctor. >> i think we are trying to diagnosis? >> i want to know they weren't diagnosed effectively that is 21 years old, what do i as a parent do with this young person? >> well the first question even fits recognized at the age of 21, often children we would describe are in families having particular character traites and are never diagnosed. i hi the question for any of these for parents of young adults and young adults themselves is to try to find the best fit in society. >> thank you doctor. i have one more question. >> in other words there is nothing we are doing to them. we have no mandated services for them and the affordable healthcare act may help to provide some medical services but this is tragic if we have not found a way to accommodate
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an adult who may still become a functioning member in society. i have often noticed that parents of highly educated people come forward and speak up for down syndrome, middle class parents. why is that? is there a difference in who recognize s is there a difference in who gets it, an eth nick difference oh or class difference in who gets or recommend nices this disease or condition or sit an across the board condition? >> it's an across the board condition. there are issues again because it's not always diagnosed. those who have greater access to higher medical care since it's a medical diagnosis that's made tend to have the diagnosis made more frequently. so those with barriers to access are less likely to have -- >> what is the minimum age we should be looking to to see
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whether autism is perhaps there. >> there is now a checklist approach used right around one year of age and the hope to make the diagnosis at that age and hopefully younger. the younger we can make it, the better. >> thank you. >> i think you had an additional statement. >> so we do have tools to help parents identify children as early as possible and those are free on our website. and the most important thing that -- >> the mother knows it, the father knows it. s it is what is available? >> it is how to have a conversation with your physician and guiding parents with that. >> thank you mr. chairman. it's up to the family to try to figure it out? >> i think the gentle lady and thank god there are families who care so much and that is a big part of the it. with that we go to our first
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doctor on the panel for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. first of all, i'd like to acknowledge my colleague mr. burton for making this instrumentle and representing so many people out there. one of the things i wanted to ask in your testimony is i didn't hear a prevalence about diet >> we do within the context of our study ask information about diet. >> it seems to me in the coordination and i see the frustration uffs a practicing dentist for 20 years. i can understand their frustration. it's mortfying. when you try to go for studies the coordination for studies is
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horrible even as recently as last year. but we have people that are so motivated in these families. when i would give postops to families, you get about twice the support. with ought tist i can families they are begging for more support. you're getting tenfold heristic type aptitude and findings. and i'm finding more from them than i am from the medical research. and it seems to me we're focusing something wrong here. we should be focusing on the family. they are telling you what is going on and they are fruss straited because the research is si lynn dri cal. they are not sharing or coordinating at all. and they are telling you what is going on and what is wrong and we should focus on the
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family and utilize that as a coordinating factor. i want to get back to diets. i have family history with this and the genetic factoring. there is a trigger mechanism. there are so many things. you cannot point to a disease factor. point to one of them i dare you and we'll find a dietary problem with it, diabetes, heart decees, think roid conditions. ms, you're going to find a dietary aspect. so part of the problem we ought to be focusing on is the dietary aspect. we ought to be looking at how do we help parents in a dietary format. this is what my experience was. i spent every night after my practice closed going through aisles in a grocery store
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looking at everything on the aisle to make sure it didn't have a gluten or wheat. do you know how long that took? it is unbelievable what these people have to do and we have researchers who don't listen to them. to me this is absolutely incredible. and i think it's a slap in the face for these people to be looking at those aspects. and here is how fluent it was. one of my siblings has a con they said was autistic. thank god one of my sisters is a physician. in going through this we found out she had sileacksprue. she wondered if this was the problem for her son. we had a kid who was diagnosed or labeled as autistic that as soon as we took him off of wheat, gluten and mick products
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this kid sits, reads and does everything appropriately. and i think we can manage this practice a little different lifment sometimes we're in the forrest and we don't even understand what we're looking in the trees. the manage these processes by family and start listening to people, asking a question. that's what we as physicians were taught to do is ask questions and listen. and i think that's part of the biggest problem we see in this research aspect is we're not listening. i see the frustration all over your face. we were scheduled to be part of a genetic study. there are ten kids in my family. out of the 17 grandkid 13 have sill acksprue. you'd think you would use our
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family. sad exkeys we didn't. so we're missing the boat here and we need better coordination. much better than what i'm seeing currently. thank you. >> the gentleman yields back. >> i appreciate that this is a hearing that many have waited a long time for and it's popular and i ask we negotiate have the positive nor the negotiative from here forward if possible. with that we go to the gentleman from ohio for five minutes. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. in preparing for this hearing, i was look at some interesting studies and some information to follow up on questions of the relationship between autism and environmental mercury, namely mercury that is airborne as a
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result of the combustion cole. the united nations environment program in a piece called mercury control from coal combustion says the burning of coal is the single largest source of mercury air emissions having more than tripled since 1970. coal burning for power generation is increasing alongside economic growth. the releases from power plants represent today roughly a quarter of the mercury releases to the atmosphere. this is from a report called mercury control from coal combustion. there was a report actually a study that was done by the university of texas health science center that showed a significant link between pound of industrial release of mercury and increased autism
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rates t. study pointed out that community autism prev lance was reduced by 1 to 2% with each 10 miles of distance from the pollution source. now the background of this study was that during the time period studied by the texas team, they quoted the uscpa saying there were environmental mercury releases at 158 milliontons nationwide in the late 1990's. i'm waiting for more updated figures but it's probable greater than that. when will -- are you aware of any other studies other than this texas study that has
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created a link between toxic chemicals in the environment and increased rates of autism? >> i'm certainly aware of other studies for instance the one i mentioned earlier that was published in the last week looking at auto emissions and pregnancy early in life as a factor and a causal relationship but clearly an association between that expose you're and all thism rates. >> they've probably gone down since you've had catalytic querters. i'm speaking of coal burning power plants which have been used in great frequency over the last couple of decades. >> i certainly do not know all of the studies in the autism literature. i'll be happy to look into that and provide additional information for the record. >> other than the one from texas, i'm not sure if there is
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another study like that. there have been a number of environmental studies that are at the individual level but not at that population ecological level. >> it seems to me in the next congress it would be timely given the fact this issue is out there genetic susceptible
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you pointed out that is always a factor but now we know the amount of emissions may bay factor. that is one of the things by this texas studyty and as we move forward with this because there is inevitably an amount of work that has to be done that goes way beyond the politics and goes beyond pure science or to science that i think it would be helpful for the congress to back a study that would determine once and for all whether the degree to which autism is linked to mercury releasing sources specifically the burning of coal and with respect to the university of texas studied the amount of emissions and the proximity to those emissions. and i just want to say in conclusion that all these families who are here, you have
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members of congress on both sides of the aisle who are dedicated to trying to find out what is going on here and to do it in the interest of your family and future generations as well. so thank you for your presence here. >> we now go to the gentleman from virginia. >> i thank you for being here today. let me start by saying as a first term congressman we are impacted by issues brought to our attention by the constituents we serve. i can tell you i don't know of another issue that has affected more of my constituents that have demonstrated a greater degree of frustration than this issue. it's new to me and i'm listening to your testimony. but let me ask a question. i know that we saw you studied this in 2007. we saw 1 in 150 diagnosed and in 2009 1 in 110 and now 1 in
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88. so just in a short period of time and 1 in 54 boys. have you seen anything in which there has been such a dramatic progression of diagnosis in a six year nerd your experience with the cdc? >> most of my experience has been with develop mental disabilities. >> has anything had a trend with this acceleration. >> there was a study looking at trends of all depoment mental disabilities and the only one that showed an increase was attention deficit hyper activity disorder. >> we deal with all crisis at certain points in time has anything accelerated to your experience in a six year period? >> how about in general, you
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are in the, who do you know in general. >> speaking with what is going on with autism we have been looking at trend over time. there has been an increase and some of that increase is due to how children are identified and diagnosed in the community. so there have been changes over time that contribute in part. our system monitors the number of children. we don't have all the information about what is happening in the context that influences how children are identified. >> i guess what i am saying and these are your words not mine, as we've seen this remarkable acceleration just in the diagnosis, in your words this is a public health concern. would you explain to me why this is not a public health crisis? why this isn't an issue on the front burner of the cdc every
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day? >> this is a very important issue to the cdc and we are using the straint of cdc to approach this issue. we are monitoring -- what cdc does in its excellence is tracking and monitoring research and prevention. >> thank you because i know what you are saying. the facts are clear this has been accelerating at a remarkable pace in terms of the diagnosis. what is being done to have a genuine comprehensive plan in which we are looking for accountability on the progress being made in terms of what we're doing to better understand this issue? >> that's a very important question congressman. i think part of it goes pack to the ia ccs asking for it every year come up with an updated plan. i haven't checked my e-mails in the last couple of hours but
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based upon the flurry of activity over the last few days alone, there really is work -- >> in no because it's that time of year where the year has come to a close and really trying to put together this year's plan in a very thoughtful way. >> who is in charge of this? who wakes up in the morning and says i am going to drive this train and make sure something happens today? who is in charge of it? >> the head of the ia ccs who is director of the mental health at nih i think it shows. you asked it's important to the cdc. it's extremely important at nih and that's why there are a number of instutes at 2 nih that include autism as part of
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their research. >> what does it take to develop a plan with accountability and time lines? >> i think the cdc accomplishes that. if you think that's lacking i think it's a question for congress to figure how best to put that together. there are a lot of medical issues here but there are a lot of issues about the lives of those who have oughttism that have nothing to do with medicine per say. >> i get that but where is that emerging evidence being used and challenged in a concept to hurry to a discovery at least an advance in this as opposed to what may be just sort of i hate to say it and there are to so many aspects but i see it as being willie nilly and this is next thing that gets funded today and somebody tomorrow as opposed to a real focus on a
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critical path. >> again i, think there are multiple parties involved in this who are quite concerned about this who work in a regular way to try to advance . this frustration is there absolutely understandable. but i think in recent years we have seen a clearly acceleration in progress. sit sufficient, no, sit accelerating, yes. >> thank you mr. chairman. i yield back. >> the chair at this time would ask our colleague from florida be allowed to participate in today's hearing. without objection, so ordered. >> glad to have you aboard congressman. my friend from massachusetts. >> thank you mr. chairman i appreciate that. thank you for all of the witnesses and folks when are here today as well. i want to address a concern that my colleague mrs. norton had what could we possible do
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for those children aging out. we did have a higher education opportunity act a cup of years ago that was carried in the house in the senate for colleges and community colleges to address programs and sustainability for those on the strecktrum that were able to be helped by that. unfortunately it didn't get funded again. i think we could put attention on that and deal with some families on. that i would look forward to others on this committee that we might pursue that and do that again and perfect it a little bit. >> you mentioned that since 2,000 all of the vac since were without that september the multivial.
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why? sit removed from them as well? >> since 2001 and i'm not a vaccine expert but my understanding and i will clarify for the record about this is that the multiuse vials are needed in certain context from an international or global perspective but i'll clarify that for you. >> why this is a necessity and could it be i did minute shd and substituted would be helpful on that. is there a difficult yation between diagnosed oughttism in other countries as opposed to the united states, is it region specific or sit generally the same throughout? >> so in most developed countries that do have data on autism the prevalence has been
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compable about 1%. there was a recent study in south korea and it showed a higher prevalence a 2.6 for prevalence. that was done differently. it was a community screening program or a study versus a different method that we use here in the u.s. i do want to mention one thing though within the context of our monitoring network here in the u.s., the prevalence varies considerably so there are some states that have compable prevalence rates to that south korea study. >> so what are we doing to determine if there are higher rates in some states than others, are there a good number of studies trying to find out what is demincht those areas and what are the out comes of those studies? >> so our monitoring network
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continues to track the prevalence. we're trying to identify children at a younger age. we are doing studies to try to understand what impact that prevalence rate both from a community perspective understanding how children are identified and diagnosed in the community as well as changes in risk factors and modeling how those changes in risk factors over time might have influenced the rate. >> my colleague was talking about dithe and other family instance like that. is there part of this monitoring that entails a high epssnens of diagnosis and interviewing those families whand might be their experience or history? >> actually we have a second research programmle as well as many activities ongoing at the national instutes of health. so we have a research come nonet six states of the united
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states to do just that, to interview families and get more detailed information from medical records, to compare families of children who have autism versus those who don't and get a better sense of what is different. >> what stage are those studies? >> so the that was called the study to explore early development. we have just completed the first phase so we have 3700 families that have enrolled in that study and we just started a second phase. we are in the analytic phase of that and hope to have data come out in the next year. >> where are you doing something with minority and low income groups to determine why the prevalence is higher there? >> we are incorporating -- so our studies try to get everyone in the population and to get everyone in the population is always challenging but that is
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what epidemiology is all about. it's to represent the population so you don't have any bias there. so yes. >> the gentleman yields back. >> i recognize myself for fives minutes. >> you're the only pediatrician here today and one of my other roles in life right now i'm a grandfather for 7 children, two little girls one five weeks old today and one four weeks old on sunday. so are you saying that somehow there is a window of the first year that parents should be looking at different behave i don't recall activities in these children to get an earlier idea that the child may be affected? >> absolutely. we do think the first year and potentially before that is crucial. it's interesting for instance that the ni and others support a study done in san diego which involved local pediatricians
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doing a survey of their patients, a quick five minute quest nare to try to diagnosis children with autism at about one year of age and see whether this could be done. not only did that study show it could be effective it was so convincing to the peedtrixes all of the pediatricians elected to don't do that in their practices because they were so convinced this was important for their patients. so i think absolutely more and more we want to make the diagnosis early because then we can get interventions and services to kids and the families in the way we can make a difference. and the earlier we start them the better the impact. >> this is key since we don't know how to prevent autism. we do know there are great ben t fits from early identification. cdc has a campaign called learn the signs and act early is
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really targeting parents and healthcare providers and have tools to help parents as early as three months, one month to understand what the appropriate develop mental mile stones are. so your daughter, daughter-in-law can take advantage of those materials. >> my wife and i spend a lot of time with them so we can. i'm always holding them or doing something to them. i should be looking for things i wouldn't have been aware of before. i do represent an area that similar pove risched role areas and i'm sure a lot of the members feel the same way because we don't represent one group. how do people in the impoverished areas get the opportunity to find out what it is they need to know also? is there a method? i keep hear people going online. the area i represent there is not a lot of people to go online. >> i think one thing we brought
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up today is we represent two agencies within the context of hhs and there are other represented in the autism coordinated committee who voices you need to hear about too. so the health services resources administration focuses on training in additions. in rural areas to try to target and then our colleagues in the administration on disabilities do work here, department of education. so there are a lot of work here and you are just hearing from the two of us. and the ia ccs is trying, i know it has it's challenges but it's trying to bring together all those voices in the government in a coordinated way so we can help everyone, really be the group that reaches out to all. ? >> any follow up to that? >> there were various approaches before i came to the
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nih a number of years ago. i was the only gentlemen net cyst in the state of verm vermont so numerous families and kids with autism and that was part of a network that tried to approach the questions and challenges of providing good diagnosis and care to kids in rural areas. it's a difficult challenge as it is in any areas that have bar yes, sir to access bit rural or urban. >> anything on the horizon at all that could be a cure? >> again, we've been focusing on understanding the preventable causes versus the cure part. >> i want to take this opportunity. we share a lot of passion for a lot of different things but we are both grandparents. i've often said if we could ever exchange and take the place of whatever our children
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and grandchildren we would do so. i thank you what a great effort. we will continue to pursue this as long as we can. you deserve an answer and we'll keep working towards that. right now is mr. lynch is not here. you are recognized sir for five minutes. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. all of the estimates vary. research on the prevalence of autism disorderers suggest that black and white children are impacted at compable rates with lower snenses observed among latino children. is there consensus on this data? >> you are correct. so our most recent data shows that the prevalence among african-american children and white children is fairly
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compable and the latinos is lower. >> is it possible that lower rates among latino children reflect a lack of awareness twn community and that might be the reason? >> that could be the case and the program i was talking about earlier which was learn the signs act early, we tried to target latino populations working with our state colleagues. we have all of our materials translated into spanish specifically to try to do that. so we are within the context of the work we're doing really trying to impact that. >> are you in agreement? >> i am in agreement on the cdc and her expertise in this. >> it has been suggested that children can be diagnosed as early at 14 months old.
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given those children and their families the benefit of early intervention and treatment. however, children of color are row teenly diagnosed at a later age than their white counter parts. what barriers exist to early diagnosis of all children and are there any sose owe economic barriers that prevent parents or physicians from recognizing the early signs of autism among children of color? >> i think there are issues of access to quality carry, having access to longitudinal care for instance t. pediatrician or physician who cease the same prider cease the same child over time can more easily pick up. lack of appropriate developmentle progress etc.
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than a physician or other healthcare prider who has seen the child only for ep sod i can care so some of the questions of access for diagnosis is principlely made in a medical context. there are issues of access here. >> so if a family did not have primary care physicians for both themselves and their children, then it is possible that there might be a later diagnosis than if they had this ongoing care all along? >> i think creates -- this is there are obviously many challenges to making this diagnosis. this adds to the challenges for the family and healthcare providers in doing that. >> let me ask this question, once diagnosed individuals with
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autism disorderers have average medical expenditures between four and six times greater than the rest of the population. the harvard school of public health estimated it can cost $3.2 million to care for an individual with autism over the course of a lifetime. although insurance covers some of these costs, intensive behavior they are piss often paid out of pocket can cost as much as $60,000 per yeerp. the families are are average of limited means. that means limited access will also occur to treatment. what level of access todown low income children have to behavior or therapeutic interventions before they reach school age?
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>> that varies by local to some degree in terms of what provisions are based in the community and their level of vablet. no question that for any family, even a family of great means, the challenges of appropriately caring for a child with autism are financial challenges along with the other challenges they represent. for those of alesser means clearly the financial impact can be relatively greater. >> are we making any real progress with that issue? >> i think we are making progress. again, it's fruss straitingly slow but we are making progress with more intervention that is make a difference. and want to have an array of options for interventions because more interventions will be more successful for one family than another. but access to them will vary so
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that's one of the reasons for not saying we are happy we have interventions but saying we've made progress but we clearly need to develop more. >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> now the gentleman from florida. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. my predecessor was a well respected competent medical doctor and had a great deal of expertise on this subject i'll probably never have. but i glean from him some certainty that he felt mer sol in vaccinations definitely was a contributing factor to oughttism. and i read not long ago an article that said until the wonderful people like us introduce vaccinations to africa, the african children
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were autism free. they never heard of oughttism. had you ever heard that before? i wonder if the cdc has conducted or facilitated a study comparing vac nated children with unvac nated children yet? have you done that? >> we have done a number of studies looking at the relationship between vaccines and other development mental disabilities and there have been since over the last decade there have been numerous studies looking at the relationship between vac seens. >> conducted fwi cdc? >> some were some by others. >> how many would i say? >> i would check with the specific numbers but i know there were two, one large study
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looking at various development mental disorderers and the second one focused spevingcli on autism and those were fairly recent. >> would you see miles gets a caller: of those please? >> of course. >> do you believe an additional study would provide data regarding the safety of vac scenes? >> they have evaluated this issue in 2004 and in 2011. and their conclusion again was not just look t at the work that was done at cdc but with a total body of evidence was suggesting that vaccines and their components did not increase the risk for autism? . >> so definitely have you studied vac nated versus non-vac nated. >> we have not.
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>> just stop. there that was the meaning of my. you've wasted two minutes of my time. >> what steps has the cdc under take on the ensure the integrity of the research that was performed by dr. author son who has been dieted for misconduct and misallocation of resources? >> so dr. author son who was a co-investigator on a couple of studies that came out on autism was really just one investigator and that body of evidence related to vaccines in autism. >> have you gone back to validate the studies he participated in. >> e relied upon him for data to determine whether it had a negative effect?
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>> so few studies don't conclude a body of work. the body of work relating vaccines to autism is a large collection of study. >> you told me you only had two studies so you must figure two studies must have some way. you run me out of time quickly here. you mention you have they mer sol in multivial why is that? >> i was going to get that information for the committee. >> because i would think if they vit in multivial if they e limb nated there was a reason. >> there was a reason. there are single dose vials and multidose vials. >> and they took it out of multidose vials. >> 234 that's correct. >> how many multidose vials are there? >> i can provide you with that information. >> i've seeb a chart that ranks
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the longevity of the 30 nations with the best mortality rates in the world starting with iceland, sweed den singapore and on down. we're the 34th and we require more vaccinations than any other country that is healthier than us. do you see any correlation either of you to the 34st worst mortality rate and the most vaccinations to the ones with the least required vaccinations and the lowest mortality rate. they also have children that pass age 20 in those countries too. >> there are many factors involved in longevity for any country. the one thing we know is they are the major reason why generations live longer thanl previous generations. they are perhaps the most successful in the world.
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in a short period of time on very >> those who know me and those who don't. i wear these every dafmente these were the bracelets that were the brain child of a young tpwhom my district who is 16 and has a younger brother who is autistic. she started raising money at 11 for research in autism by selling these bracelets for $6
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a piece. she has financed a $250,000 study in one aspect of autism. . and i raise that because i like to brag on her because she's an incredible person but to illustrate the kind of civilian activity that is going on in this field and it's represented here clearlya kind of civilian n that is this going on clearly today. representatives of the government try to figure out if there is anything the government the frustration, a lot of what we can do is find it things. we know how to spend money. we do have the across the board cut it.
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the so-called fiscal cut which can act. we are california fiscal cut. we can pass the fiscal cut. a location $2 billion. the four pillars in subsidies and this did not need it. my question is, if you have an ethic to billion a $4 billion, what would you do with it. how would you spend it? >> hi would not want to spend the propellers, attitude or disbanded. a combination of federal funding and having private advocations to have, this research, there are many things but would say
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supported by federal dollars and propellers. and, the families and would hope support the federal dollars, which should help, in terms of cabinet, we should also talk about, which a tube of this specific dollar opportunities, talking about, there has been to may focus of dollars and focused. in a combination of both, to figure out those that are both, now we can focus than those of a
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cane of those of the dollars are, in terms of the trawlers are, in terms of the interventions are, i think those research of those trying to figure out how those of of trying to have a figure as a reserve with optimism, there are a number of figures consider this have i ever for the question. >> reduce your requests. -- which do have sertorius. knowledge of health policy as, they can address the enologist a came up about racial and ethnic
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groups. there is one of the areas to attended or states. and to could answer is more fester. our academic institute partners who have worked. the to have a cusp to explore the. to put an essay award of the ins is in her today. the >> a appreciative if him arrested allowing me and the others to sit and on this. the extraordinary, he is a great leader on combating optimism.
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in camera as his seventh house packed hundred began feebly authorization has been important. there is a sense of impatience the of hoffa the was just used. i want to make a use. i know we were able to marshal of huge amounts of money with a -- it was george bush posted idea. we spent -- to make a
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difference. i think it hurts the effort. we have to be accurate. when the one and 88 member refers to released, the associated press matzo brie right. autism cases are on they rise again. federal health on thursday. you were asked about the epidemic. is said to my yes, it seems to be more common. , but victory is still up. you have to go where the science as it. it is a couple of years clicker. appreciative thick jury is still up. the one and carry it still
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funded makes it clear that we need go further into a stood eighth, into the suites, it seems to be the case. if you for, the south korean studdie. assyria they had when global of human rights committee. i human affairs committee for 32 years in our house of representatives. the first hearing on global autism, when we got back from those who testified is that there were a public tens of millions of cases of autism, nobody knows why. there was a speech on combining human trafficking. he says, you can have with the
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harmonies are brent are living with autism and developing countries. it is very hard to come with fifth countries. he is here today, he is a fair competition and. my question, we have this event highest bridge. are they just as tough, the methodology as up in as effective surgicenter it does not as much of an effective -- rivera is not a direct result if there is a nexus befriended two, there is a leg of women who are pregnant. having an office of aids
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research at the can really put precise to it, but not have that and our efforts to combat it? >> let me try to respond to all of the questions. i do not want to give the impression as only been the last couple of years there has been a role. the line term leadership which jerry but are spread to effect a number of years ago. i was on a chair emphasize, it has grown and membership and has become more effective reform is what i was trying to say. in terms of the softer rinsed of a, there are some method of an uptick issues, does it serve the
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urban interesting, we do not know if there was a precursor street and south korea, the same methodology what they would see. some of the anchors and terms, we know much of that is due to increase and better diagnosis. but whether that explains the whole thing, i do not think we scientifically know for sure. there is enough of a reason for some degree it is a huge important question. regardless of the answer, we and other environmental freshers of play and we need to and -- and identify. we know we need to take it
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seriously. regardless of whether the rig as anchors or not, in terms of reduced, much of a reward. the salmon leviticus. with those kinds of questions a window it is much higher than they used to be, one of the big differences and the exposure to what at birth. could it put a role? we do not know. >> we recommend to the gentleman from new york. >> thank you for calling this a hearing. autism is becoming an epidemic a venture of the united states. i want to complement him for his
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liver should. for been the chairman of the stability and doing a fine job. you are focused on this. i want to to or for your leadership on this issue and 70 others have expressed by greta to the end of this. the members appointed are others. it is 1 in 88. i want to ask why. i do not want to share we have better protection. but would not account for its job in 1 in 88. word of the factors to be part of making that happen besides better detection. we have better detection, but that does not account for better members? who >> the decision is
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accounting for some of it. >> hour surveillance cameras account for the cases of prevalence. it is not to us the answers to where it. we are doing a number of studies to understand why. we tried to of the order is happened and will be-are -- >> are you looking at vaccinations? >> are you looking at vaccinations? >> there is a large literature. >> are booking at a city of attritions and they are having them at 9 and one time. you have an these studies? >> there have been a number of studies.
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the courts could descend into the ranking member here. we ought react to run our lives. people were tugging about hormone replacement. everything as an attempt to ascetic, it causes cancer. everybody says it causes replacement. i am hearing the same kind of vaccination. i must of head 50 different parents say i had a house a child. they had a 10-15 definitions at one time and that changed overnight and it was a change that child. the i had a child where the mother broke a crying saying my mother was bright, fax innocence
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esoteric -- see became sick and never recovered. hilda solis sit on any vaccinations on trying to us than that. it used to be you would get a vaccination -- much of the frigate 3 at a time. my question is why does his photo of these vaccinations require a child to receive so many shots in a short period of time. you could plan the shots over a period of time. they prevent the disease. a sorry for it. why do you have to cram six at one time when and the verbal evidence seems so strong from so many people they had a helluva
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shot until they got vaccinated. i was on the city council. a sense to so many hearings where they vowed smoking was not bad for your health. finally, the surgeon general said it was bad for your house. there is too much verbal evidence coming from parents where the breakdown. i give him a verbal vaccination. they came down with autism. i would start pacing and out. why do we have to have nine vaccinations every two months? what can we not do it every two years? markham and not wait for the scientific evidence?
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>> there is a federal advisory committee that determines the schedule. we will clarify -- the reason they cluster the vaccines is to try to get -- to make sure everybody gets it. we took imager of texans to every children. they use the opportunity. >> the chair recognizes the chairman from korda. >> love me focus on vaccines. is it true we have over 40 vaccine's -- i am not against of texans. i know there is a lot of
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evidence there are good. do we not get 40 vexations for our children today? is that the number i am and hearing? >> it varies somewhat. i think 40 is a little bit high. quirks why is it was what france is, three times fenland. i know there are a lot of people who move a lot of friends. i do not know whether our kids are getting so many shots. she is taking eight bells. they have impacts on other pills. i do not know we are spending enough time and energy looking at this. my sons might have had seven or eight.
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we have people who feel strongly this to be looked at in a very aggressive way that we are over vaccinating our children. >> we no vaccines that save lives. i have the numbers from that. it was estimated that 42,000 lives were saved, from 2000 diseases or prevented. but is for each birth toward her to. the complexities and terms of the scriptural and the vaccines. courts have they looked at the impact -- when you look if the drugs, vaccines and to the children, the impact they might
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be having, the odd combinations? into those of five, it was 101 and 256 certification we brought that up, 154, they are saying 44 years ago, it is up 1000 percent. when you look at 40 years ago we have sex shops, is there a possibility of a correlation? >> i mentioned earlier there is a body of evidence that is accumulated over 10 years looking at the relation between vitalism resist -- vaccines and optimism. it did not support an association to a vexing is an artisan. >> do you have anything to add
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to that? >> they are sang the person in their lifetime is 2.3. do you have anything to add to that for artisan? >> i would be happy to provide a distance of permission for that. >> they say across the country, i did not realize it was to this magnitude. it cost of this country for the care of optimism. do you agree with that number? >> i wouldn't not agree with the data to agree or disagree. >> will have to spend more time with resources to fix the problem. i yield back. >> there is something wrong with
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this picture. i thought he asked some very good questions. when you have a combination of shots and you go from one end and to 10,0021 in 88, somebody would say, let's put the brakes on this. let's try to figure out whether you're sorry giving a baby. they gave me nine shots. i do not know -- you say there is a party of the evidence. i do not know where we go from its symptom may somebody should say, and its present burke's on
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this. let's look at whether the multiple sharp situation as causing this. i wish you could see behind me. there are grown men crying behind you. i hope -- somebody would say, is there something, maybe, there is an issue here? can we error on the side of keeping children safe, even if we have to give one shot a? thank you for yielding. it is our intention to include in future hearings and did the
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gentleman from indiana is here, a narrow request, the question of drug interactions or the fda approves >> chains by definition, it does not study interactions of any sort that can happen with 20 different ones. there is a different hearing. it is one with regard to hear about. one of the questions is that -- did do things that were not concerned but the fda. that is a series of questions we expect to export up because we would like to slow down the approval process, that is one of
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the answers we are only 13 more evidence that there has to be a systematic approach to dealing with all of will we put and our bodies. he talked about food, being something you cannot control what at the same time, and drugs have to be locked up in terms of what somebody may eat or drink. i am and i'm asking for a ever miss into this, but i want you to be aware of it. we do intend i going down some path for elected to that. we another to the distinguished patient from utah for five minutes. >> thank you. i am not a member of this committee. >> will represent all jurisdictions of the congress.
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>> i appreciative the witness being here today. we have heard a lot about the 1 in 88 number. i come from a state where it it is 1 in 47. i have sorted our differences in different regions. i represent a state -- i have read a lot about this. i have always been an advocate for responsible funding for research to try to figure out what is going on with an issue. i would like to ask both of you if you can tell me, have you been looking at the see a graphic as parents is. kitty offer information that can help me understand why my state has a different number from the
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national average? >> i will go back to some of the comments i made earlier. differences and house to its set of children. and our program utilizes those sources to a different to and. that varies from state to state. some of our six tuna have access to education records. since we are dealing with a 8- year-old children, and they are served through special education, that makes a difference as well. " i appreciate their baby if -- there may be differences and ideological. is there something going on in my state? is the inclusion the talks differently in different states?
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>> we are looking at differences in how to of and are identified as well as differences a prostates. >> is there a target date to where there is a result? do we know when there is ansas? >> from the report identified as an aide to, we can see children who are coming into this system are more apt than likely to have a humanity diagnosis arthur likely to have autism, that is marled 3. christa anderson there are differences. if we have validated that is what is going on with their of their -- eo sorry trying to figure out -- >> we are trying to figure out
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what their fear is a special study in south carolina. using one of the sides, they are looking at a much more in-depth way to see if that number in some of carolina's low? we are putting the puzzle to give away. >> it would be helpful if we could understand what that number is different. i would like to ask one other question. can you tell me about the therapy approaches the margin? >> in terms of something like a
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medical therapy, i think we are further away from the interventions. one would hope would have as to offer as well. >> tea or a. >>. the gentleman yield his time? >> i have one question. why did the fda -- if there was no problem, these it just a couple? parks i think a their of us are vaccination experts. crux of it was people would like to know. >> i thank you for agreeing to answer that for the record. i will allow him to ask one
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additional question and we were the to the largest panel. >> one of the witnesses told me the fugitives -- it was a couple of studies. i have an affirmation that he is involved and 21 of the 24 studies. of a like to submit that to the record. >> i would like to distinguish that to our record. i know you have been in front for a long time. i might suggest to have been in front of our panel. if you can say for a while and watch it on the monitor, you may help for additional items on the record. we will not leave the room. if the clark which ends over for the next panel?
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>> caucuses some activists testified, investigating autism rights. this is one hour 20 minutes. crux week really did not recess, if our would miss it would take care of their assigned seats, i would expect this second panel would take a long time but would be equally interested.
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i do want to thank you for your patience. this is a long time for you. we recognize our second panel starting with mr. bob wright who is the co-founder of artisan speaks. the president of the autism society. a member of the board of directors of santa minds. and would ask mr. kelly introduced and make a short statement about what he has brought here. >> one of the great honors i have representing northwest pennsylvania, starting and 1986
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addressing these problems. he has spoken of the country of our initiatives to help those with lesser degrees of what his son to make your contributions. it is so nice to have you here. your program we recognize mr. john hartley, the executive director of the global and regional aspirin partnership.
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the president, as you have sent to the rows of the committee, and ask that the rise to take the oath and raise your right hand. do you all solomon's where the the testimony you give the citrus, the hard truth, and nothing but the truth. please take your seats. you are a large panel and you have a lot to say. a would only answer there are 20 groups behind you that are stated before you. please make sure he finished with them five minutes. i am afraid your microphone is not close enough. could do:a little closer.
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there is a silly game of get into the microphone. it goes with being congress member. you have what it takes. quirks thank you for having us. t were so much for being here. i also want to thank dan burton for all the work he has done over the many years to bring awareness and attention to and action on an important issue. of a like to walk from mr. smith to has done an extraordinarily issue as a wall. thank you for everything you have done for all of us. i want to say, i am here because of my grandson, christian, who is 11 years old. my wife, suzanne.
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he was a boy that was two-years old and we thought he was very precocious. he walked early, he had an enormous vocabulary and he lost everything. i will tell you my daughter believes it was the relationship that triggered him into this pit. we lost a little boy that we knew. lost. a boy, we've hitless to know. we could take care of christian. we some so many others out there. i said at meetings similar chair the meetings we have here. i went to universities, medical schools and of the worst may tings imaginable.
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we do not know, but we are sure, we're sure, but we do not know. that was a lot of the issues. we got into this and said it, we called a run to find like minded people. we have raised a considerable amount of money. we have 90 walks. 400,000 barrel walk for a sphere. all of that is based on a little boy. and all my business career, i was shocked and so ignorant of provinces wishing, when i tried to learn, i was more shocked nobody was helpful. we were amazed at escalating issues. i will try to answer a couple of things.
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we talked about the 1 in 88. that is the u. s number. it is what they call a passive resource. they go around and look at medical records that are existing bridges to the is a variable. they look at school records. they do not look at children. it hardly looks at some of the differences 20 look to run the country. that is what they do. the career and said the that we financed, it is the gold plated model on how to do this, we went through the same process with koreans, we found out it was about 1% of the population as second thing happened.
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parents wanted to offer comments about what we were doing. we were only doing school records. they said, it has only 100,000 area. we asked parents, they could come in and offer comments. we separated them out to two years. we actually had one more% of the same committee diagnosed with autism. the number is 2.65%. i have no reason to believe that number will not be duplicated and then to the united states. we convinced the cdc, they do not have more ready. that speaks for themself.
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they spent almost no money on autism. $20 million, all of the safety issues, we could fix that and about one hour for $35 billion a year on top of what they do. the name of this committee, there is a real issue here. i was there was not an issue here. we are on page 7 -- their two paged top priorities. optimism is at the bottom. they do not want to say, we did not have money. this is about speaking up. >> to write very much. it is an acquired skill and the oppression before landing at.
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>> my wife and debt are the proud father of a 25-year-old son with autism, which like the ever school is starving at helping so been with autism. he is one of the more fortunate with autism. it is the oldest organization dedicated to a artisan. an increase in the cdc ritz are one out of the 88 berths. this number may be hired and and the actual incidents. we applaud the work of the cdc. we address the questions asked early about the growing disparity about the autism,
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people of ethnicities and geographic location. we would suggest the numbers for autism are difficult to navigate. they may not be individualized our best approach to for the needs of the individuals. it is for preparing them for tomorrow. we believe government -- we need to reexamine how government services can be provided on an individual's needs. there is a significant despair and say for funds for both long- term to support people with disabilities. this does resulted and long
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needs for people in our country. it will not only require services, it requires us as a society to think different about the way services are delivered. an individual who is put on a working list is denied the services that could help him or her address the quality of life needs. we recognize the committee to examine ways where funds because it at the expense of duplication and administrative services. we would encourage the government with a 70 to look at the public schools. 50% of students with disabilities of dropping out or not graduating are receiving
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public degrees. this is difficult in a way to look at children with an adult life. it must the outcome left, they must maximize their self- sufficiency. we have to take -- when it goes above 5% or 6%. individualists, it is as high as 78%. and any parent or individual having to navigate the system to say it is impossible to navigate. they need to look at how we can more possibly navigate the response to a one-stop model. we would encourage the committee to look at portability.
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from one set or another, he or she loses their services and has to start over again. this is of concern to military families when they get relocated from one base to in at the. with all respect, we would disagree with a lot of what he said. this is a group that can do a good job under reality, at it is not. it is has to include the not- for-profit sector is. we have to be equal partners and the table. they have to include the labor of defense and has to meet. please support our strongly and the kurds the funding of funding autism. we would like to anchorage the need for adult services.
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when the talking but a fiscal clough, the board disclosed that happens is when a person turns 21 and their services are available for the person when they are and need. aboard the be happy to answer any questions. >> tea or a. i have one quick piece of the intermission. the senate passed -- restoring of military personnel, with a retired. it has taken five be used to do that. >> you are not organized. >> could after name. i am careful, and i am humbled for the opportunity to represent it occurred about a to enter to the record, we had
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testimonials and the last couple of days of over 300 families who wanted to attend the hearing but they could not. >> will include that in the record. >> i wrote a book on artisan. it is a new condition. it is far benefited five pages long. three years later, he saw the first child with optimism from mississippi the camera to visit him. he had ever seen a child like that before. he broke his famous paper in which he argued -- a number of children had come there was a uniquely reported so for the chase merits a detailed familiarities.
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before 1930, the parade of optimism was effectively zero. today, nearly 70 years after the paper, it is 1 in 78. what is going on? where are so many american children sick? we need to face reality? autism is a public trough crisis? it is devastating and a generation of children. it is a nationally by urgency. there is a summary of historical autism. 1 in 10,000, keep looking. something new and terrible happen to a generation of java. autism rights to not rise, they multiplied. the seven full autism. some job and -- some people, did
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not -- it cannot raise. they look for everybody. it did not find everybody. it did not miss people with autism. it is not hard to find people with autism. the notion we are doing better diagnoses -- they are using the same methodology. it is not because the methods are present, there are more cases. in the midst of the crisis,, the cdc negligence has led the way. many believe they have covered up evidence requiring the causes. the money they have wasted on status quo basis, it is upsurged. there is no such thing as an epidemic. the have skipped past a couple of examples of malfeasance.
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to provide the answer is that they have wanted is a name. there are similar pressures in madison. what cdc has given us is the equivalent of securities fund it. in the face of a national emergency, they have performed poorly and behaved badly. we need a new leadership on autism. we need a committee that believes in autism. oppose the mission. we need to stop investing in the autism chain hunt and what has changed -- what can cause it with some of the children. it is complicated, but they cannot be so complicated.
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all ultimately, we need to face and answer the question, where some a children sick? we are asking you, the members of the committee for your help. please stay on the job and the interest the next congress. we need cdc and and are its to do a good job. there is a crisis, and we need your help. t. very much. [applause] you are now recognized for the testimony. >> thank you for the opportunity to address this committee and to address the rise in optimism spectrum disorders.
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as we have discussed, the cdc and the kids 1 in 88 births as a child living with autism disorders. students diagnosed with a s d are of the age where they are applied to hire at to kiss and institutions across the united states in numbers. within the next two years, one in every 100 college applicants will have an autism. one and 1000 students with disabilities succeeding college, earning a degree, and go on to make a difference in the world. and then to 2008, the asperger's
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initiative to meet the unique needs of the population of college as burgers and the a st. thanks to an appropriations grant in 2009, we did receive $100,000 from the u.s. department of education everywhere able to launch the program. two short years later, best colleges online ranked no. 3 on the nation in the list of college programs for students with autism. the president said capable students, if given the opportunity to succeed, will do just that.
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very few colleges and universities across the united states offered a program of chalazas support for the call her to for these students. too few are equipped for students with a s d. most have a great need for a and truncheons and job coaching. few have held a part-time job or understood the nuances of a workplace. the department of location department has provided support for our students, but has lamented to supporting students or employees of an intern chips or job coaching that are covered under restrictions. students with asperger's syndrome, a cog for personnel. syndrome, a cog for personnel.

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